


In The Amber Resin

by kbegger



Category: K-pop, VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Shifter, Cute antics, Dragons, Empath, Fluff and Humor, Kid Fic, Minor Character Death, Seer, Vixx as kids, Witches, and ch 9 too..., and ch5, art in ch 4, chloromancer, warning: there is bullying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-10-27 23:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 50,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17776634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbegger/pseuds/kbegger
Summary: Being a kid is hard. Being a kid shunned by classmates for having magical abilities- even worse. While Cha Hakyeon is a kindhearted and talented witch, his family has an unnerving reputation that generates mistrust, apprehension and avoidance in his classmates. For his only friends it's made harder for them as they have to deal with that and having to figure out how to control the powers that intruded into their lives.For Hongbin it's trying to survive over-zealous plant life. For Wonshik he's always right, but it comes with a price. For easily excitable Jaehwan, his unbridled influence on emotions creates chaos and resentment in his classroom. For Taekwoon his fear of losing himself to animal instincts is ever present and no one will let him forget the times he has. It's easy to see why they band together and embrace their after school lessons at the Cha household.When the boys find an egg suspended in a chunk of amber resin they envision how amazing it would be to have a pet dragon. But with the strong willed baby reptile, Sanghyuk, the reality of dragon ownership comes with unforeseen challenges.





	1. Found

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but here we go (・_・;)...

"Guys! Guys! Come in. Do you copy? Me and Shikkie found something. Get over to the tree house stat! Over." Hongbin rushed them over the walkie talkie.  
   
"My mom won't let me go until I finish my homework. Over." Jaehwan complained.  
   
"Is it math?" Hakyeon's voice crackled in.  
   
"Yeah. It's going to take me forever." Jaehwan lamented.  
   
"Tell her you're coming over to my house to get help. I'll show you how to do it afterward." The eldest offered.

"Taekwoon, what's your 20?" Wonshik checked.  
   
"This better be worth leaving a good game of fetch in the park." Taekwoon grumbled softly over the airwaves.  
   
"It is! I won't even bother describing it because you won't believe it until you see it." Wonshik claimed.  
   
"Will there be food?" The temperamental little boy asked, fishing for a bribe.  
   
"Taekwoon! Just get over here!" Hongbin snapped. It wasn't long until the other three elementary kids were climbing up into Hongbin's lofty fort. The two first graders were grinning proudly, fidgeting with excitement.  
   
"So? What's your big find?" Hakyeon asked supportively. Hongbin pulled back the flaps on a cardboard box. "Tada!"  
   
Resting on some leaves for padding was lump of amber resin roughly just a little smaller than a basketball. Suspended in the middle was an oval black rock. "Wah! Cool! Where did you find it?" Jaehwan asked, his face lighting up like the sun.  
   
"I fell on it." Hongbin grinned and showed off his skinned knee.

"Since my parents are at work and don't care and the gulch is just right behind Binnie's house so his parents don't care we decided to go play explorers in the gulch and-and Hongbin was walking on a log and I told him wasn't strong enough." Hongbin stuck his tongue out in retaliation but Wonshik continued without notice. "And it broke and he fell down a hole and at first we thought was a bear cave so we had marked it as dangerous on our map, but it was empty and when I went to check on him we saw this and we dug it up and-and yeah…tada." Wonshik explained, breathless from talking so quickly.  
   
"Uh huh…What is it?" Taekwoon asked, pointing to the stone in the middle.  
   
"A dinosaur egg." Hongbin proclaimed resolutely, because what else would it be?  
   
"And listen, it's still alive." Wonshik prodded the box over to his friends. They gave him skeptical looks.  
"No! Really! Put your ear against it!" He commanded petulantly. Jaehwan relented and lifted the amber out to listen in. Wonshik was right. There was a tiny thumping of a heartbeat. Shock over took the second grader's face. "HOW?!?!" He bellowed as he delicately hot potato-ed the large amber ball to Hakyeon.  
   
"Hell if I know." Hongbin and Wonshik shrugged dopily.  
   
"This can't be a dinosaur. That has to be magic." Hakyeon decided while listening to it.  
   
"Maybe it's a dragon then?" Wonshik suggested.  
   
"So if it's alive, shouldn't we get it out somehow?" Jaehwan mused.  
   
"We should take it to your mom and dad. They might know how." Taekwoon told Hakyeon. The fourth grader's parents were the most skilled witches in town. When it came to magic everyone looked to the Cha family.  
   
The boys excitedly jogged, skipped and meandered their way to the Cha house. Hongbin cradled the box to himself since he was the finder and he had first dibs on keeping the dragon. "It's going to be so cool. I'll name him Spike and make him scare the bullies that picked on us at school."  
   
"But what if it's a girl dragon?" Jaehwan teased.  
   
"Oh…um…dunno. Girls can be named Spike too." He decided.  
   
"What if it doesn't have any spikes?" Hakyeon added.  
   
"I don't care. It's still cool and scary." Hongbin whined defensively.  
   
"What if it isn't scary?" Taekwoon murmured.  
   
"Oh shut up you guys!" Hongbin shouted in miffed protest. He would have given them a neck chop if his arms weren't full.  
   
Upon entering the house Hakyeon called out. "Mom! Dad! We need you! We found a dragon and we need help!"  
   
His mother rushed to poke her head outside of their work room. "YOU WHAT?!?!?" Hongbin held it out to her.  
   
"See!"  
   
She breathed a sigh of relief. Her thoughts had sprung to the impossibility of a full sized dragons burning the village. This was ok…kind of. She examined it and when the kids told her to listen to it she found the little heartbeat. "Incredible" She murmured.  
   
"We need to get it out of there! Or else…well…I don't know what. But we should get it out of there." Jaehwan insisted.  
   
"hm…Darlings let me talk to Mr. Cha to see what he thinks and then I'll be right back." She whisked the egg away to the laundry room where her husband was folding laundry. She shut the door to have a hushed conversation.  
   
"Great. We don't get to keep it, do we?" Hongbin complained blandly.  
   
"Taekwoon, go listen in. Change into a mouse or something." Hakyeon ordered. Taekwoon gave him a huffed glare, but shifted into a black cat. All of the animals he turned into were as black as his midnight hair. "Mouse, please, as if." He grumbled as he followed the adults.  
   
"Yeah, he'd rather be a hamster." Wonshik whispered gleefully to the remaining three who stifled snickers. The other fourth grader shot them a glare, but resumed on his mission. Hakyeon's parents were in there so long that the boys wandered over to the living room, taking up spots on the couch and window seat. Taekwoon bounded back and shifted to his human form.  
   
"They’re worried that the dragon (and yes, it's a dragon) will be too dangerous to let it hatch. They're thinking about sending it to a hidden dragon reserve island somewhere in the pacific."  
   
"What?! Come on!" Hongbin groaned and the others followed suit with similar frustration.  
   
"Maybe they have a point though." Wonshik conceded woefully. "I mean how big are these things? What if it doesn't listen to you and it burns down your house. Your mom would be pissed. That is if she even let you keep it in the first place. It might try to eat your dog." Wonshik pouted. Sometimes he hated being right all the time. He had been so excited about having a pet dragon.  
   
"Maybe I could keep it and you could visit it all the time." Hakyeon suggested. Afterall he was especially good with fire magic. His paternal grandmother was a fire elemental and he had inherited many of her abilities.  
   
"No fair" Hongbin whined. They remained silent, sulking, until the laundry room door slid open.  
   
"Hey boys. We talked about it and I really think we need to talk to a draconologist before we melt the resin off. There are also some runes that are on the outside of the resin, feel these little scratches, that we need to interpret first. It might be that this is locked up for a reason. Be patient ok?" Mr. Cha explained. The grumpy little boys reluctantly accepted the decision.  
   
. . .  
   
"Is he really a legit dragon guy?" Hongbin whispered to Wonshik. He had expected some kind of professor-y type, not a scruffy crocodile dun dee person.  
   
Wonshik paused waiting to feel the spark of intuition go off in his head. He got what felt like a small electric shock only he could interpret. "Yup, he knows a lot of dragon stuff."  
   
Hongbin relaxed and went back to swinging his feel with a nonchalant "Oh, ok." Taekwoon sat in Hakyeon's lap in his cat form to be petted and he felt the boy bristled. Of course his parents invited a professional. Wonshik wasn't the only one who could do divination. The only difference was he didn't need any type of medium to funnel it into.  
   
"Of course he knows. We cast the bones on the list. All the badger claws pointed to him, you ninny." Hakyeon whisper-yelled in reproach. They stuck their tongues out at each other before turning their attention back to the adults' conversation. They were making themselves comfortable and Mrs. Cha asked if the draconologist would like a cup of tea, which he turned down in favor of having a beer. His mother wryly indulged him.  
   
"Ah, thank you ma'am. This is quite tasty. Home brewed?"  
   
"Yes, Dr. Smith. We do a couple batches a year."  
   
"Could I have payment in beer? Good beer is better than gold in my book." The gruff old man laughed.  
   
"Certainly." Mr. Cha responded in amusement.  
   
"Ah, and this is our little beauty over here. Let's see now." After a moment of inspection he continued. "Well, this is a rare breed. Judging by the snow flake obsidian crusting on the shell, the slight shimmer to the shell and the size and shape I'd say it's what they call a constellation weaver. Many believe they can change fates by rearranging the stars in the sky. That's false though. They are called that because their wings are sparkly so when they fly it looks like the stars are moving. They blend in with the night sky. They breath blue fire that's got some gold sparkle to it too. You can tell what color their fire is by their eyes. Their bodies are covered in black or navy blue plating, but they have a little bit of gold glass shimmer. It's a small dragon. Their max wing span is at roughly 7 to 8 meters and it's got a slim build. For reference some dragons are born at the size he'll be when he's full grow. Weavers would make good riding dragons since they don't have prominent spikes on their spines, but you have to earn it's respect first. Doing that is rare.-"  
   
"So is it safe enough we can keep it?" Jaehwan blurted.  
   
"All dragons are dangerous, boyo. They don't start out as tame as your pet kitty." He pointed at Taekwoon who just scowled, too comfortable to care for long.  
   
"That's Taekwoon. He's not a pet. He goes to school with us." Jaehwan took offense for him.  
   
"Oh, really?" The draconologist drawled with amusement. Hakyeon nudged at Taekwoon's back to make him stand, but he was stubbornly unmoving until he was dumped on the floor. In his human form he stood over Hakyeon menacingly, who flinched, expecting the forthcoming thump to his head.  
   
"SEE!!" Jaehwan squawked indignantly. Dr. Smith cussed under his breath in shock.  
   
"Aw, Taekwoon sweetie come here." Mrs. Cha invited fondly and in cat form Taekwoon sought refuge with her, even sticking out his tongue at Hakyeon to gloat. "Dr. Smith, I should probably mention that all of these boys have touches of magic. They come here for lessons on how to control it. Taekwoon here is an animal shifter." She explained while scratching behind his ears. He was a purring puddle in her hands.  
   
"I'm an empath!" Jaehwan screeched proudly.  
   
"So if you feel oddly emotional that's why." Mr. Cha chuckled.  
   
"His aura says he's surprised."  
   
"Jaehwan." Mr. Cha said in a warning tone. "What did we say?"  
   
"It's not nice to announce what people are feeling." It was a habit they were trying to make him drop and it seemed like they needed to keep on him constantly.  
   
"Apologize to Dr. Smith."  
   
"Sorry, Dr. Smith." Jaehwan said with a sheepish smile.  
   
The draconologist relaxed and smiled. "That's alright. And what about you three?"  
   
"I'm a seer" Wonshik supplied shyly.  
   
"Plants won't leave me alone." Hongbin grumbled. Upon saying that Wonshik sheepishly plucked a recently sprouted flower bud from his friend's long hair. Hongbin glared at the plant matter Wonshik tried to hand him.  
   
"He's a chloromancer, and I'm a regular witch, but me and dad also are part fire elemental." Hakyeon informed him pleasantly, pointing to his father so that the visitor knew who he belonged to.  
   
"And will you be the tyke raising our little fire breather?"  
   
"Yeah, I think…right?" Hakyeon looked at his parents questioningly.  
   
"Possibly sweetheart. That's why we're getting advice from Dr. Smith." His mother responded.  
   
"I won't sugar coat it. Dragons in their first few years can be a handful. They usually mellow out a bit when they can take a human form and learn human languages. They only do this if they are around humans a lot. At that point it would be like adopting a feral child rather than owning a pet. And this dragon will long out live you. Some of the smartest and oldest can be so convincing you wouldn't have any idea they aren't human. They can even read and write.-"  
   
"Really!! Cool!" Jaehwan called out in awe. "So when it looks human, can it come to school with us?"  
   
"Easy bub. We don't know if it would, when it would or what type of appearance it would take. I don't think the human school would appreciate a reptile looking child with a reptile mind sitting in their classrooms. Dragons are regal creatures that act out when they aren't given proper respect. Putting them in with disrespectful children could be a recipe for disaster. Because you know there's always at least one bratty kid that make life difficult for everyone else." Jaehwan missed it as he was sitting on the floor at their feet, but the other three kids pointed to him with silent giggles. Dr. Smith had to do his best to keep a straight face. He didn't want to set off the loud child again.  
   
"I wanted to ask about these runes. We weren't sure what to make of them and we couldn't find a translation for them. Are they dragon runes?" Mr. Cha continued.  
   
"Yes, let's take a look." Dr. Smith pulled out a battered looking book out of his coat pocket and jotting down translations on a separate piece of paper. The boys grew more restless the longer time wore on and they could tell Jaehwan's pent up energy was going to get the better of him soon. Dr. Smith thankfully shared his findings before Jaehwan could do something unruly or disappear to play. "So on these bands of text it isn't directly translatable. It's a spell to keep the amber on the inside layer the ideal temperature to keep the baby from hatching. They only hatch when they don't sit around in magma anymore. This band is a spell to keep it cool on the outside, probably to hid it from heat seeking predators. Animals eat animals after all. The amber will melt just like normal resin though. As for the last bit this little guy's name is something that sounds like Sanghyuk. I'm guessing his mother put him in the amber given it's dragon spell work.  
   
"Why did she do that?" Hakyeon asked with confusion and concern written across his face.  
   
"They may have been in danger and she had to hide him." Dr. Smith ventured.  
   
"Is she coming back for him? He should be with his momma." Wonshik asked.  
   
"When you found it was it embedded in the dirt or was it sitting in the open?" Dr. Smith asked.  
   
"We had to dig it out." Hongbin answered.  
   
"There's your answer. He's probably been lost since the time it took for the earth to form around him."  
   
"Do you think she's looking for him?" Hakyeon asked. As much as he wanted a dragon, he would rather reunite it with its- him with his family.  
   
"I think it's been so long she might not be around anymore. I could be wrong and ask some of the dragons I know about Sanghyuk, see if anyone has heard of him."  
   
"Do you think he'd be better off being raised in a dragon family?" Mrs. Cha asked.  
   
"Dragons are pretty independent. Usually their mothers only mother them until they can hunt and breath fire, so I don't think it will make too big of a difference. There is a lot of dragon knowledge he will innately know in time rather than needing to be taught.  
   
"Ok, and when you say handful what are the types of things that make baby dragons difficult?" Mr. Cha asked ruefully.  
   
"Right, they fly within the first four weeks, they can breathe sparks if they really try. They don't get to full on flames until a year or so old. They start out as small as this egg, but grow quickly and often they don't realize their own size and strength. They can be very clumsy in enclosed spaces. And with that size come the need for bigger prey. Your neighbor's livestock will be a temptation for him. And they’re curious little buggers. They'll get into everything that isn't shut behind warding. They need lots of stimulation. They always want to be learning, playing, hunting, flying, running around. Overall you'd have to make peace with the fact that there will be some amount of bodily harm, many of your things will get broken and in the beginning it would need near constant supervision and handling." The kids look dejected. This sounded like an imminent no. Their dreams of dragons were gone. The egg would get shipped off to some far away island and their lives left miserably bland.  
   
After some silence while the parents stewed Dr. Smith suggested. "Training a dragon can be pretty taxing. It's not a good beginner pet. I'd be willing to buy it off you. Training them is what I do for a living."  
   
"You mean for resale? We were thinking we should send him to a dragon haven so he could be with other dragons." Mrs. Cha frowned.  
   
"Oh, no I wouldn't recommend sending a new born to the island. Without a mother to guard her young the babies don't stand a chance against the big guys. It would be better to train him to live amongst humans."  
   
"What would your customers do with a dragon?" Mr. Cha asked with subtle suspicion.  
   
"Well, generally they keep them as companion animals or for riding. Some keep them to bring themselves luck." He explained, conveniently leaving out the fact that some buyers get them for parts. Wonshik snorted. "That's a dumb reason." mumbled under his breath. The young seer experienced the same treatment for luck.  
   
Mr. and Mrs. Cha seemed to be having one of those silent conversations couples have and the kids watched, on the edge of their seats. "No, I think we'll be keeping Sanghyuk. Thank you for your concern though. I'll go get some beer boxed up for you." Mr. Cha announced with a sly smile. The boys erupted in cheers and jumped around in excitement as Dr. Smith gaped in disappointment. The ruckus roused Taekwoon. "What did I miss?" The cat asked groggily.  
   
. . .  
   
The boys kept getting as close as possible to the fire pit that Friday night when they were finally ready to melt the amber. The kids had to wait as the adults dragon proofed the house as best as they could. Wards were on all of the cabinets, shelves, drawers and entire rooms. Fire extinguishers were in every room. The fireplace was cleaned out, baby monitors put everywhere, tungsten handling tools and books purchased. Parents had been told of recent events, and all of which were glad the creature wouldn't be at their house. They had enough going on with their own children's magic to worry about a high maintenance pet.  
   
The last of the daylight was dying when the final remnant of amber melted away. Being impervious to burns, Mr. Cha grabbed the egg out of the fire and brought it to the empty fireplace to cool. "All right everyone remember the rules we have? Each of you name one." Mr. Cha quizzed.  
   
"Don't touch the egg while it's hot." Hongbin answered.  
   
"Wear the plated gloves so we don't get hurt, because he will bite us. Also I'm not supposed to shift right now." Taekwoon replied next.  
   
"Don't um…be too noisy." Jaehwan whispered sheepishly. "And don't fight!" He added.  
   
"Come tell you when he hatches." Wonshik said dutifully.  
   
"Don't help him break out of the shell." Hakyeon finished.  
   
"Good, when Sanghyuk comes out and you've each had a turn to hold him, put him down in his tank so he can hunt the crickets, and be careful because his little body is going to be delicate. He's going to be hungry, probably thirsty too. Also we don't want him crawling off under furniture so when you're done handling him, that's where he goes until he gets bigger. For the time being he's got the mind of a smart lizard. And the biggest rule?"  
   
"Don't fall asleep!" The boys said in enthusiastic unison. Mr. Cha grinned, just as excited as the little boys. He was feeling like a kid himself.  
   
"Good job guys, high fives for passing the quiz then go help Mrs. Cha with making dinner over the fire." He enjoyed listening to their giggles as they left to roast hot dogs and make smores. It would probably be another six hours until the egg would cool to a point where the little mythical creature would want to poke his head out, but they were trying to set a president so the boys would take it seriously. It wasn't long until the boys took up their shift and Mr. and Mrs. Cha went to sit out by the camp fire to, as Hongbin put it, be all gross and lovey-dovey.  
   
The younger three pointedly stared at the egg until Taekwoon reminded them that it was going to take a while to cool. The night started out like a typical sleep over with board games and several rounds of Mario cart. After midnight staying awake was becoming a challenge, but they were determined. They watched in rapt fascination when the egg started to move. It took the baby dragon another half hour to fully emerge from the cracked left overs of what looked like a blue quartz and gold specked geode hidden within the obsidian egg.  
   
Sanghyuk was just as beautiful as the draconologist had described. From snout to tail he was the length of Mr. Cha's forearm and had a pleasant heft when Hongbin picked him up. He had called dibs on being the first to hold Sanghyuk since he was the finder. When he stood on his hind legs to paw at the little boy's nose they all fell in love. They adored his little creaking calls and giggled when he gnawed on the plating protecting their little fingers. They whispered cheers for the little dragon when he would catch a cricket in his glass box. Mr. and Mrs. Cha cooed at how cute it was that all of the boys had fallen asleep in a semi-circle around the winged lizard's tank.  
   
. . .


	2. Imprint

"Hey you. Jae-weird 's little friends. Come here." Some second graders called Hongbin and Wonshik over. Their school was small enough that first and second grade did recess time together. 

"We don't know anyone by that name." Hongbin dead panned from his perch on top of the monkey bars. "Also we're only a year younger than you and the same height so I don't know where little is coming from." He sassed. It aggravated the bullies, who gave them stank face.

"Jae-weird is a mean name. What's his real name? And where is he?" Wonshik prodded.

"Fine, whatever. Jae HWAN is stuck in class doing detention cause everyone got too hyper because of him. He did his stupid magic. What a useless power."

"It's not like he's trying to do it." Wonshik responded.

"Wanna bet? Il Young threw a total temper tantrum last week and Jaehwan was staring at him pretty hard during it."

"Il Young is a sore loser. He was probably just shocked to see him lose it like a toddler." Hongbin replied dryly. 

"Not-aw! It was totally him. Anyway he was going on about a dragon for like, two weeks now. Is he for real?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why you're surprised about that." Hongbin answered. 

"And it's not Tae-freak pretending to be a dragon?"

"It's Taek WOON and no, he already tried. The best he got was a baby alligator. He can't do animals he hasn't at least seen a photo of. Now that he's seen Sanghyuk he might be able to do it though." Wonshik was mostly speculating to Hongbin than the nosy kids below them. 

"Do you have names for us too?" Hongbin called down upon realization.

"Not yet. You want some?"

"Forget I asked."

"Will do if you make Taekwoon try it after school!" The bully called as the bell rang.

"Crap. What did we just do?" Wonshik voiced with a worried look.

"Taekwoon's not going to be happy about this. I wonder what they call Hakyeon?"

"Probably something even worse." Wonshik responded with gloom. 

First chance Wonshik got he claimed needing to use the bathroom to sneak over to the fourth grader's classroom. Once Taekwoon was flagged down and both were hiding out in the bathroom Wonshik told him of the conversation they had at recess. "I don't know why, but whatever you do, don't do it. Fly to Hakyeon's house as a crow or turn into a hamster and I'll carry you in my sweatshirt pocket. But don't be a dragon."

"It's ok Shikkie, I can be a crow. No offense but it's cramped in your pocket. I'll wait for you guys a block away. You guys have to stay with Hakyeon though. You're right. They call him Cha Hak-spawn."

"Seriously!" Wonshik's jaw dropped with a look of horror, not that he knew what that meant. 

Taekwoon figured he was ignorant of the technical term. "Spawn means like fish babies I think. Either way it's not a nice way to say kids." Taekwoon clarified. Wonshik mouthed a silent 'oh' and nodded as he took in the new information. "Don't EVER call him that." Taekwoon warned solemnly. "No matter how much he gets on your nerves don't do it. Got it?"

Wonshik shrugged. "I know. I would just call him dummy or butthead." Taekwoon snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes. That would be fine.

"We should get back. See you after school."

"Ok, I actually have to poop though." Wonshik informed him sheepishly

"Bye, Wonshik." Taekwoon left so the younger wouldn't overshare any further. 

. . .

"Did you wash your hands?" Hongbin nagged when Wonshik got back.

"Yes, you clean freak, I washed my hands. But, uh…you have some morning glory buds sticking out."

"Aw, come on." The flower child groaned.

"Just hold still." Wonshik weeded his friend's hair of bits of vines and white flower buds. All they could do was pluck them out. Their teacher winced when she saw it, but let Wonshik finish. She always asked if it hurt to do that, but Hongbin was used to it. Since he didn't want to look like a chia pet it was a daily chore. 

"At least they aren't pink." Wonshik whispered after throwing the debris away. 

"You jinx me and I will rip your head off." Hongbin glared with a scrunched face.

"Do you want me to find out? If that will happen I mean." Wonshik offered.

"No, I don't want you having a seizure again. Especially not over something as dumb as flower colors."

"Since going to Hakyeon's after school that rarely happens anymore."

"The last one was a week ago." Hongbin warned in a serious hush. 

Wonshik looked away uncomfortably. "Binnie…I didn't want to tell anyone, but I kinda d-"

"Shikkie, Binnie, back to silent reading time please." Their teacher rerouted them back on task. Hongbin filed it away to pry whatever confession Wonshik was about to make out of him later.

. . .

Hakyeon quickly snatched the two first graders back before a bike sped in front of them. "See Ya Losers!" A boy called out cackling. As Hakyeon released them under his breath he muttered "idiots."

"Am not." Wonshik pouted.

"No, not you. Them. They've been giving me crap all day. Somehow they found out about Sanghyuk and keep telling me I better bring him to school or 'else'. I keep telling them I can't take Sanghyuk to school, but they won't listen."

"Well…you didn't say we couldn't talk about it…" Jaehwan said sheepishly. "I'm sorry! I was just so excited about having a dragon…"

Hakyeon didn't say anything, but patted Jaehwan's shoulder to let him know he wasn't in trouble before holding his hand to cross the street. Before they could though another group of children called out to them.

"HEY! Jae-weird 's little friends. Where's Taekwoon? He was supposed to do his dragon thing."

Upon seeing the nervous looks of the three younger Hakyeon took it upon himself to answer. "His mom came to pick him up today. He has a dentist appointment." He lied with a pleasant smile, hoping they would forget about it. 

"Welp you guys get nicknames then. We're thinking Princess Flower Fairy and Won-shakes." Hongbin's was self-explanatory. Wonshik had had seizures at school three times during kindergarten year. The first graders glared as the group walked off and imitating the seizures. Hongbin looked at the crow cawing in a nearby tree. "It's not funny! Stop laughing!" He gritted before tossing a piece of gravel the bird's way. 

"Hongbin, that's not him, come on." Hakyeon chided under his breath.

"I don't want to be a fairy. Or a princess. I'm a boy!" Hongbin wailed as they wandered down the sidewalk.

"Your loss, silly. Fae are very beautiful and have strong magic. Mom said males have either dragonfly wings or moth wings and are very fierce." Hakyeon tried to cheer him up.

"Probably have to be because they get called fairies. I mean, what do you think of when you think of fairies? A small girl with butterfly wings! I don't want to be called a girl."

A black German shepherd trotted up next to him. "Being a girl isn't so bad. When I was practicing different animals I picked doing the girl's form of seals because male seals look weird." Taekwoon told him.

"That's different." Hongbin sneered.

"How?" Taekwoon asked with amusement.

"I don't know. Just is."

"Girls are icky." Jaehwan declared, trusting the opinion of his two older brothers.

"Yeah!" Hongbin latched onto the idea. "My older sister is always putting on makeup gunk and smelly stuff she sprays way too much of. And I can't wear any of my white clothes because she put a red shirt or something in the laundry and now they're pink. I don't know how it all works, but I'm pretty sure she did it on purpose."

"Yeah…I guess I can see how it's different now." Taekwoon conceded. 

"What's wrong with pink? My shoes are pink." Hakyeon questioned defensively.

"Oh-……really?" Hongbin asked sheepishly and sure enough Hakyeon had on pale pink sneakers. There were even a few black hearts sharpied on. "Why?"

"They used to be my sister's, but she gave them to me when she moved out for college last month. No one's made a big deal about it. Surprisingly. Even those bullies. It's just you." Hakyeon giggled and booped Hongbin on the nose.

"I'll trade you nicknames then!" Hongbin offered. Hakyeon's smile fell. 

"or not…" Hongbin tapered off at the somberness. Hakyeon took to studying the ground while he walked, the sunshine completely knocked out of him.

Wonshik whispered to Hongbin "Taekwoon told me earlier. It's Cha Hak spawn. It's a really rude way to say kids I guess."

"That would have been nice to know five seconds ago."

"Sorry. I forgot." Wonshik apologized with a wince. Hongbin groaned and for a while they walked in awkward silence. As they were walking through the Cha front door Hongbin pulled Hakyeon aside. He ran up to the Azalea bush in Hakyeon's front yard and coaxed a bloom out of the plant, then offered it to Hakyeon. Hakyeon smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair upon receiving the cute gesture. Hongbin ran away blushing almost as red as the flower.

. . .

Because Sanghyuk was so delicate they didn't get to handle him as much as they thought they would. And it turned out Sanghyuk wasn't easily baited into learning tricks. After a week of trying Hakyeon felt bested by the baby. 

"Give it up, Yeonnie." Jaehwan giggled at Hakyeon's last ditch effort to get Sanghyuk to come to him when called. "He'd rather hunt for crumbs under your kitchen table than eat that piece of chicken you got."

Hakyeon was lying on his belly next to said furniture, clicking his tongue and baby talking Sanghyuk's name. "Maybe I'm using the wrong kind of treat…" He said morosely as he sat up. Hongbin burst out of the warded workshop, being that he was done with his practice, and was unaware of Hakyeon's attempts. After telling Jaehwan it was his turn to go in he plunked down next to Hakyeon and softly called Sanghyuk's name. Much to Hakyeon's chagrin he came without even needing a treat as incentive.

"How…" Hakyeon said with a hurt frown.

"What do you mean? Isn't that normal?" He asked, scratching the dragon's chin. 

"No, I've been trying everything." Hakyeon sprawled out of the ground dramatically hopeless. Hongbin scooted over to the pitiful ten year old and set Sanghyuk on Hakyeon's belly, trying to get him to stay by petting him. However it seemed like all the little reptile wanted to do was crawl into Hongbin's lap.

"Really Sanghyuk. You need to listen to Hakyeon. It will make things easier for both of you." Sanghyuk made whining squeaks as if trying to protest. "Hyukkie stay." Grumpily he plunked down on Hakyeon and glared as if angry that he had to comply. Had to?...hm. Wonshik emerged from the workshop and smiled hoping to play with the dragon as well. "Wait, stay there for a sec. Tell Hyuk to do as Wonshik says and Wonshik you call him over." Hakyeon tested. 

"Um…ok. Sanghyuk do what Wonshik says."

"Come here Sanghyuk." Wonshik hope rising and falling just as swiftly. The tiny lizard looked confused and uncompelled to budge. "Come on Hyukkie. Go to Wonshik." Hongbin prodded. But Sanghyuk just tilled his head uncomprehendingly. "Fine, Hyukkie come here." Hongbin held out his hands and Sanghyuk quickly scrambled into them.

"Ugh, no fair. He only listens to you! Why?" Hakyeon complained. 

"I don't know." Hongbin said defensively. "I didn't do anything. Besides he only did stay and come." He held the dragon to himself and his attention focused there. Wonshik, not feeling offended, came up to pet him while in Hongbin's grasp. Hakyeon groaned and wandered away to the workshop. "Mom! Sanghyuk only likes Hongbin. He doesn't like me." He whined, draping himself over the back of an arm chair in despair. 

She looked up from where the cat toy she was taunting Taekwoon with. It wasn't really taunting per say. He was in his cat form trying not to give into cat tendencies and to stay humanly cognizant. So far he had at least managed to not move, though occasionally he did follow it rather closely and tensed in desire to pounce. It was those impulses that brought him here to begin with. "Just keep loving him and feeding him." She suggested then paused. "Maybe…he's the type of animal that imprints. Imprinting is when a baby bonds with the first animal or person it sees. So Sanghyuk probably thinks Hongbin is his mother because he was the first one Sanghyuk saw.

"What?! Why didn't anyone tell me that before? I want to be Sanghyuk's mom." Hakyeon complained.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. There is a lot we're learning as we go. There are only so many sources on how to raise a dragon."

"Dr. Smith could'a said something." Mrs. Cha just rolled her eyes fondly before sending him over to Mr. Cha and Jaehwan since he would be a useful practice subject for being so moody.

Hakyeon's bellyaching could be heard though out the house and Hongbin finally found his chance to ask Wonshik about his secret. "Ok, spill. What were you not wanting to tell people?"

Wonshik winced at the sudden reminder. "I um…did it on purpose."

"You what?!"

"No, no listen. I was just tired of my dad asking me for the winning numbers for the lottery. I figured it out. I get seizures when I look for big info. He was asking for one of the smaller prizes, but I still don't like doing it. So instead I looked for a big unrelated thing and let him think I was doing what he wanted."

"So these flowers?"

Wonshik closed his eyes and got the tiny electrical spark he was looking for. "Someday you'll be able to control it completely, but until then you'll be able to control color and type soon."

"Hm…cool I guess. But what about the thing that you looked for?"

"…I wanted to know when Hyukkie would take a human form."

"When will that be?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It's not like I got an exact time. It was really confusing and hazy. There was-…I saw some stuff that I'm scared of."

"Bugs?" Hongbin guessed because his classmate was stalling out.

"No…worse…I- I don't know how to describe it. There's pain and fear then anger before he transformed. There was screaming. He'll look about our age, but his eyes don't change. It's a scary looking." They both studied the oblivious dragon wondering what the glimpse into the future meant. 

. . .


	3. First Flight

"Mom! Sanghyuk is on the ceiling!" Hakyeon cried in panic. Sanghyuk had somehow managed to make his way onto the top of the mantle and climbed up the stone toward the ceiling, speculatively looking at his surroundings. He flapped his wings a little to test their full extension. Sanghyuk was starting to outgrow his tank and shrieked in annoyance when trying to extend his wings all the way and couldn't. Hakyeon's father was still working on a bigger enclosure for the dragon in the guest bedroom that would hopefully be large enough to house him until his late adolescence. 

Sanghyuk had given him a gleeful look of defiance as Hakyeon had chased him around the room, but now that he was up there he looked more somber and anxious. "No, Sanghyukkie. Don't fly. Not yet. Just stay there, I'll get Mom." Hakyeon pleaded. Where was she? He poked his head down the hall, but the workshop door was closed. She was still in a client consultation and he wasn't supposed to interrupt them unless it was a big emergency like the house was on fire (which they now had an overabundance of fire extinguishers that he had been taught how to use, so even then he wasn't supposed to bug her). His eyes focused back to the dragon when he creaked, looking like he was working up the courage to launch. "No. No. No. Hyukkie no." Hakyeon yammered and ran back toward the fireplace. He was half way back when Sanghyuk went for it. He got in a few flaps and managed to glide clumsily to Hakyeon's outstretched hands. Both of them wore expressions of stunned relief. 

"Bad Hyukkie. No more running away when I clean your tank." Hakyeon scolded sternly before hugging the warm creature to his chest. Sanghyuk just croaked at him like he thought it was funny. The fourth grader was miffed, but let it go in favor of finishing his chores. He struggled to get Hyuk to go back in the tank though. "Hyukkie! You're going to rip my shirt. I promise I'll come play as soon as I'm done with loading the dish washer. Hey! Ouch! Sanghyuk!" Hakyeon's complaints fell on uninterested ears as the dragon scrambled up onto his shoulders. Hakyeon exhaled a dramatic sigh. "Fine, fine, whatever. You can come do dishes with me. Just no more attempts at flying right now. You'll hit me in the head." 

Sanghyuk chirped happily as he picked at bits of food still stuck to plates which left Hakyeon rolling his eyes in resigned annoyance. Sanghyuk stayed distracted by exploring the dishes and everything was fine until Hakyeon went to hand wash the frying pan that still had hamburger chucks left in it. "Hyuk, stop. I need to wash this." Hakyeon grumbled, quickly sliding the pan under the suds with the hope of out of sight out of mind. But no. Hyuk splashed in and squeaked happily as he found burger chunks among the bubbles. Hakyeon fumed as he wiped water from his face. "That's it. I'm not playing with you."

The grumpy boy walked away to get started with his homework at the kitchen table, deciding to leave the pan for later. In his frustration he decided to let Hyuk have his soapy fill before putting him back lest he started persistently whining. It wasn't long until Hakyeon got absorbed with his spelling homework. His multitasking was shot and Hyuk took advantage. He nearly fell out of his chair when Hyuk clumsily hurdled onto his spelling and grammar book. He looked very proud of himself, but he was still sopping wet and now so was Hakyeon's textbook. "Aw, Hyuk! Come on!" Hakyeon cried in frustration.

He went to catch the feisty dragon and Hyuk hopped out of reach and more gracefully this time, glided back to the kitchen counter, creaking with delight. Hakyeon just stared, a smile slowly growing on his face. "Wow! You did it!" he praised fondly. Hyuk made another attempt at gliding back over to Hakyeon and this time crashed into his chest. Hakyeon was so excited that he wanted to show his father who was out in the garden working on harvesting for the season. Grabbing Hyuk's leash made the little dragon especially excited and difficult to hold. It was difficult to get him to cooperate when trying to put their cat harness, which was still way too loose, but Hakyeon tightened it with rubber bands. He weighed the tungsten link leash in his hands and thought better of it.

"If I give you a long rope so you can fly around you promise not to chew through it?" Hyuk cocked his head at being addressed, but still didn't have any interest in the human language yet. He grabbed a spool of cord string and triple knotted it on the harness clasp ring. "Ok, you have to be really good or else Dad will make us come back inside ok?"

Once outside Hakyeon called out "Dad! Come look! Hyukkie can fly!" Hyuk was so excited he jumped from Hakyeon's arms and romped off toward the middle aged man, forgetting completely he could fly. He favored the bringer of live mice out of all of them. Hakyeon was still too squeamish to do it and ran from the room when Hyuk began his hunt.

Hakyeon's eyes went wide as he tried to keep control of the spool, suddenly worried about not knowing how much string he had to work with. Mr. Cha picked up the small reptile and the spool had probably unspun about fifty feet out so he hadn't lost control, so he was relieved. 

"Hi Hyukkie, you excited about being outside? Yeah? Aw, that's a good boy. Hakyeon where is his leash? You know he'll chew through this pretty easily. His teeth are like scissors." His father's cooing turned into reprimands. 

"But he can fly and the leash would be too heavy while he's trying to figure it out." 

"How do you know he can fly anyways?"

"Cause he flew from the kitchen counter to the table. He got my homework all wet."

"Why was he wet?" 

"Because he wanted to sit on my shoulder while I was doing dishes but then he saw the pan with hamburger bits and he wanted it. I was going to wash it in the sink, but he jumped in after it-….he just wants to play…" Hakyeon watched his father massage his face trying to reel in frustration. The boy felt a flood of nervousness. Even Hyuk was hunching inward. He was happy to leap to Hakyeon when Mr. Cha handed him back. 

"Hakyeon, go put him back in his tank and finish the dishes. Dry off your homework and finish it. Then come out here to help me pick the green beans. With your older siblings out of the house there's more work to do around here for harvest time. I know you want to play and in an ideal world we could let Hyukkie fly whenever he pleases, but there's work to do right now. And did you get his tank cleaned up?"

"Not all the way…" Hakyeon said while staring pointedly at the ground. He could feel tears prickling up and it made him feel ashamed. He was too old to be crying like a baby. But it wasn't fair. His dad loved Hyukkie, but he wasn't excited about Hyuk's first flight? It was all work, work, work. Could they let him fly around for a half hour? But his father's authority was too intimidating for him to be able to piece these words together audibly. 

"Save that for after dinner then so you can concentrate and we can work while there's daylight. Go on." 

Hakyeon shuffled inside and set the concerned looking dragon on the counter to take off the cat harness. "I'm sorry buddy. It's not fair. I'm sorry. We'll fly soon ok. Even if we have to be sneaky." He whispered with a watery laugh. After dishes and mid-way through drying his homework the doorbell rang.

"Hey Wonshik, It's Saturday. There aren't any lessons today. What are you doing here?"

"Dunno." He said with a blank shrug.

"Ok…well I can't play. I've got chores."

"Did something important just happen?"

"What?"

"I just got a tuition spark and came here."

"Intuition."

"Yeah, that. Why do you look like you've been crying?"

"I have not. Shut up and go home. I need to do my homework." Hakyeon retorted and made to close the door on Wonshik when his mother entered the room. 

"Oh, hi Shikkie! How's it going?" She said warmly. "Hakyeon has chores to do so he can't play right now. Sorry sweetie."

"Hakyeon's crying." The first grader 'tactfully' pointed out.

"Am not!" Hakyeon's mother lifted his chin to face her. Her face scrunched with concern as Hakyeon roughly turned his head away and rubbed his eye.

"Yeonnie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She stared at him sternly until he spilled. "It's just I wanted to show Dad that Hyukkie can fly and he got mad that I wasn't doing my chores."

"I KNEW IT!! I KNEW SOMETHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED!" Wonshik spazzed out. "Can I take Hyuk to show the others?"

"Well…I don't think it's a good idea to take him too far. Maybe tomorrow you all can come over to see him ok? We've got a lot going on right now." She explained with an apologetic grimace. Wonshik left with a disappointed "ok." She wasn't too keen of the idea of trusting a seven year old with the responsibility of a dragon, especially one so quick.

"Mom…is there a spell that we can use to finish drying off my spelling book?"

"Why is your book wet?"

"Ugh…it's a long story." Hakyeon replied dejectedly.

. . .

"Taekwoon, he's going to bite you again." Hakyeon boredly reminded the other who was sitting next to him as a crow.

"I just want him to fly with me." He reasoned, hopping out of the lunge range of dragon who seemed to be more interested in making Taekwoon lunch than flying.

"Mom and Dad don't want him flying inside. They don't want you doing it either."

Taekwoon transformed back. "Fine. There's something bugging you isn't there?"

"Mom and Dad are mean."

"What are you talking about? They put up with Jaehwan. You have to be pretty nice to put up with his crazy."

"Well not to me, they aren't. All they do is boss me around, because 'now that my brother and sisters are out of the house there's not as many people to pick up the slack'. And no matter how hard I work it seems like they still don't think I'm working hard enough." Hakyeon confided. The tension between the family had built as the fall rains started pouring. Hakyeon's mother and father could cast a spell to keep them dry while working in the garden, but they said it wasn't big enough to let Hyuk fly. And Hyuk was in a huff from being in too small of a tank for his liking. With all the chores it left Hakyeon with little time to give to Hyuk and his parents even less time for him. 

Hakyeon stared in envy as his father kindly helped Jaehwan with an exercise in effort to keep him from projecting his emotions onto others. Wonshik was their test subject as usual as they didn't want him doing anything with his powers, as could be helped anyway, given the side effects. Hakyeon's mother was helping Hongbin practice how to make sprouted seeds go back into dormancy to sprout another time. Taekwoon and Hakyeon sat just outside of the workshop so they could sit with a leashed Hyuk trying to get him as much time out of his tank as possible. They had the workshop warded to keep Hyuk out, but he was still too quick to let him roam around by himself.

Taekwoon didn't have words for how to cheer up his same aged friend, so he changed into a fluffy newfoundland puppy. He delicately picked up Hyuk in his mouth and deposited him Hakyeon's hands before snuggling up next to them. With the calm patter of rain outside and the warmth from his two favorite animals his nap was inevitable. 

. . .

Hakyeon's foul mood continued and Taekwoon did his best to distract him or help him with his chores. He was right. His parents seemed to be getting more strict now that they were down to only one of four children. It wasn't until late October that they had all their garden work done. Surely with Halloween Hakyeon would catch a break. They were witches after all, they did Halloween stuff right?

"I want to be a power ranger!" Wonshik declared on one of their walks from school to Hakyeon's house. 

"I'm going to be Luffy from One Piece." Jaehwan chimed in.

"Won't you get cold?" Taekwoon pointed out, being as a vest and shorts weren't exactly proper fall attire. 

"Mom said it will look fine if I wear my white sweatshirt under it and if I wear my brother's white track leggings. What are you going to be Hongbin?"

"I'm gonna be a doctor. My aunt is giving me her scrubs, coat and gloves. And the listening thingy too."

"Ooh cool!" Jaehwan responded. "Taekwoon what about you?"

"I don't know…I can do any animal I want, so maybe I'll just go around that way."

"What?! You can do that anytime. At least pick something where your animal is wearing clothes." Hongbin goaded. 

"You could be…I dunno. Po from Kung Fu Panda? Can you do pandas? Just pick something human for once!" Wonshik demanded with a giggle. 

"Hakyeon what about you?" Jaehwan asked.

"I have to go to a family thing so I can't go trick or treating with you guys." He explained morosely. 

"Is it like a family Halloween party or something?" Jaehwan asked in confusion.

"Not really. More like a meeting with the extended Cha family. We usually do one after planting and after harvest. They, like talk about what they've been doing throughout the year and the old people give the younger people stuff to do so we can keep our people safe."

"Oh…can we come?" Jaehwan responded.

"Uh…probably not. It's kinda boring. And Mom and Dad are all tense about it because apparently Great, Great Grandma doesn't like that we have a dragon. She says Sanghyuk will be the death of us whatever that means." Unnoticed Wonshik and Hongbin traded worried glances. 

"But your mom said that we’re all very distantly related to the Cha family to have magical powers so that means we're kinda Cha's too." Taekwoon quietly reasoned. Call it animal intuition, but he was worried. Hakyeon seemed to be dreading this.

"She said we 'might' be related. There are other families of witches. I think it's supposed to be more like direct line witches. So if your mom is a witch and your dad isn't then your magical ability wouldn't be as strong. If you marry a normal person then your kid probably won't be a witch. The further out you go the less likely it is to be able to do magic. You guys are anomalies."

"Ani-m-mom-i-lese? What's that?" Hongbin asked while balancing on a retaining wall.

"It means you guys are unusual. You don't fit the normal pattern." Hakyeon supplied. "Look, guys really, you'll have a lot more fun doing trick or treating and having a sleep over." He strode faster than the group. 

"Well guess who else is amomilese." Jaehwan mumbled.

"Jae, you've been getting better at mellowing out emotions. You should go take care of him." Wonshik urged. Jaehwan nodded and set off to try, holding the eldest's hand and making close eye contact. It seemed to be helping. Hakyeon's muscles were relaxing. It changed when he walked in the door and the first thing his mother told him was to do the dishes and then take out the trash. He didn't complain, but Taekwoon could see a little bit of hurt in his facial expression. Taekwoon helped so they could get through it fast. He wished he had the right words to say.

. . .

"Hey guys, come in. Does anyone copy?" Hakyeon whispered. It was close to midnight and his parents had gone to bed by then. And it was cold, but dry out.

"mrr, what is it?" Taekwoon asked groggily. 

"Um…I want to sneak out, but I don't want to go alone…does anyone want to come? I want to let Sanghyuk fly. I think my parents would stop me if they were awake."

"That's probably for a reason." Hongbin weighed in with a yawn. 

"I figured out how to tie a harness around him so he doesn't fly away. It should be fine. He's happier when he gets to go outside. Please! Someone!" Hakyeon quietly pleaded for company.

"No way. It's cold. Over and out." Hongbin said before turning off his walkie talkie. 

"I want to see him fly. Give me fifteen minutes and I'll be at your house." Jaehwan crackled in.

"I agree with Hongbin. Don't do anything stupid you two, because I'm not bailing you out. Night."

Hakyeon quietly got ready to go out, bundling up and getting the confused dragon all ready for the midnight excursion. Hakyeon slowly opened the front door and waited on the front steps trying to keep the excited little dragon silent. Upon meeting they decided the school's jungle gym would be a good enough height for Sanghyuk to get enough launch. They giggled as Sanghyuk tugged at his leash examining his surroundings like a puppy and interacted with new things. 

"So I guess we just hook him up like a kite that can fly by itself?" Jaehwan mused. Hakyeon unwound the whole spool so that they wouldn't drop it while it spun out, then tied it to one of the poles of the monkey bars. "Pretty much, ready Hyukkie?" He could barely hold still as Hakyeon unhooked the heavier leash. He was up in the air in seconds, exploring how much range the string would give him. He had three hundred feet of thick string to work with and he seemed happy with that, flying in circles overhead as naturally as breathing. The two boys cheered and marveled at the sight. It really was like watching stars move with how much shimmer Sanghyuk's wings gave off. 

"This is so cool." Jaehwan said in a wonder filled daze.

"Thanks for coming with me." Hakyeon told the younger as he put an arm around his shoulder.

"Duh! Are you kidding? Those other three are idiots. Well, I mean Wonshik is dead to the world when he sleeps so he has an excuse, but yeah." They shared warm smiles. They watched in silence for a while hands linked because Jaehwan's fingers were stinging from the cold and Hakyeon was naturally a higher temperature. After what was probably twenty minutes Jaehwan realized there was something they forgot. "So…um…How are we getting him down? Because I don't think I can feel my nose anymore." Jaehwan informed the other. Oh…right…

"Hyukkie! Come down! It's time to go home!" Hakyeon called. Hyuk dipped in his flight path, but it seemed like he was mostly teasing as if expecting the boys to grow wings and chase him in the sky. "Great." Hakyeon sneered in irritation. 

"Should we just pull him in? Or leave? Whenever we walk our dog and he goes too far away we pretend we'll leave him behind if he doesn't catch up to us." Jaehwan suggested. They shrugged and tested the latter. Hakyeon looked back over his shoulder to see if the dragon would follow, but didn't see him. "Oh No! No, no, no, no. Where is h- ooff." Sanghyuk had dived against his chest, barreling the boy back a few steps. The dragons wings smacked against Hakyeon's shoulders almost as if giving him a hug." Jaehwan helped wrestle the happy wriggly creature free of string and back on his leash. Hakyeon let Jaehwan carry him back to the house before they parted ways, trying not to giggle too much as they got closer. 

Next challenge was how to get Sanghyuk to go back in his tank…No matter how much Hakyeon tried, Sanghyuk was not going in without a fight with progressively louder protesting creaks. In fear of waking up his parents he murmured "Fine!" and brought the dragon to his room, hoping tying his leash to the bed post would keep him close enough to not damage anything. Much to Hakyeon's chagrin Hyuk immediately claimed the boy's pillow. "Brat" but Hakyeon retrieved another and it wasn't long until both were peacefully snoring.

. . .

At first Hakyeon's parents had been mad that he had let Hyuk sleep in his room with him, but after several nights in a row of attempts to get the screeching lizard in his tank they relented until Sanghyuk's enclosure was finished. His father promptly completed it that week. They had taken over his brother's old room (now guest room (now Hyuk's room)). Mr. Cha had taken out the carpet and in place poured concrete. The walls, door, ceiling and window had fire proofing spells that would contain fire if Hyuk threw a fit for any reason. He had sectioned off the bigger part of the room behind plexiglass so that Hyuk couldn't automatically fly out when they opened the first door. It was extremely spacious for a dragon under 2ft, but any bigger than a Great Dane and he might get as fussy as he did in his first tank. Mr. Cha did a great job. It looked like a flying lizard's paradise. Plenty of high perches, resilient chew toys, basking light, small kiddy pool and comfy 'caves' to roost in. Needless to say this made bed time a lot easier.

. . .


	4. Of Ice and Fire

Here is what Hyuk will look like full grown, along with his fire and eye color. For scale I'm thinking that second picture will be how big he would get. When he's first born he's about the same proportions as a bearded lizard with wings, but same colors. The line work is by Jennette Brown. I didn't feel like drawing it myself because I don't do nearly the amount of drawing I used to when I was in school. It's been a long while since I've played with photo shop too, but I think he turned out pretty well if I do say so m'self :) 

[](https://imgur.com/uVdZm6s)

[](https://imgur.com/uq3jblT)

Now on to Chapter 4: Of Fire and Ice

. . .

"AAAHH!!" Hakyeon screamed as he put on his coat and felt something moving in his pocket. Taekwoon stopped collecting their things from their cubby to help him figure out what was in there. He dumped a terrified frog out of the folds. Hakyeon was so startled he couldn't help crying. "Yeonnie, it's ok. Just a froggie." Taekwoon reassured him after scooping up the disoriented animal. Hakyeon tearfully nodded trying to hide his tears with his coat sleeves. Taekwoon glared his fellow students, none of whom would make eye contact. 

"What's going on?" Their teacher asked, having heard the commotion. 

"Someone put this in Hakyeon's pocket."

"And it wasn't something he…summoned?"

Taekwoon glared. "He wouldn't be so scared if it was his."

"I'm ok Woonie. I just wasn't expecting it. Funny joke." He tried to smile and play it off, but his sniffles and watery eyes gave him away.

"Everyone go sit back in your seats." The teacher commanded. "Taekwoon, you too."

"Hold on I see another one." He extracted an equally terrified frog from one of Hakyeon's mittens. 

The teacher looked furious and strictly eyed the students. "Who put frogs in Hakyeon's stuff?" No body looked around or admitted to it. "We're all staying here until someone speaks up."

"Maybe he summoned it on accident…" One of the students in front row murmured. If Taekwoon wasn't cradling the frogs he would have socked the student. 

"Out of the five us Hakyeon never makes mistakes with his magic. This isn't his." Taekwoon sharply informed him. 

"Woonie please, let's just drop it and go home." Hakyeon whispered. "It's not a big deal. It's just a prank."

"Shut up." He hissed back. 

"Anyone?" Their teacher tried again with an arched eyebrow. No one would fess up. Instead one of the smartass kids spoke up. "Look, my mom is going to mad if I'm not on the playground to get picked up. Besides no one wants to get cursed. Who would admit to that?" He moodily reasoned. 

"Better one person to get cursed than everyone." She said glaring at the bratty boy then put her hand over her mouth.

Hakyeon panicked and shot up from his seat. "Wait! I'm not cursing anyone. I don't use my magic to hurt people. It's ok. Let's just all go home." He announced and with his heart hammering in his chest he picked up the rest of his and Taekwoon's stuff and bolstered himself up enough to drag Taekwoon out of the classroom. The other students started to follow suit, but their teacher bellowed at them to sit down. Hakyeon didn't look back to find out if that included him. Once outside he breathlessly rushed the other three away from the school grounds. 

"Hakyeon! That was not ok. They should get in trouble. I could have scented them if I was allowed to shift into a dog."

"But you aren't allowed to do magic at school so drop it." Hakyeon gritted as he started to choke up again.

"Hakyeon." Taekwoon yelled angrily. At that tone Hakyeon was lost to bawling. Jaehwan glared at Taekwoon and held Hakyeon's hand, calming him enough so that he could get his breath back. The two youngest kept their heads down, exchanging worried looks. Taekwoon exhaled heavily and gave the frogs to Hongbin, as Wonshik was too squeamish to take one. "Give these to Sanghyuk."

Taekwoon shifted into a horse. It would take more energy to do an animal larger than himself, but it was only a short ways. He urged Hakyeon onto his back and the eldest cuddled into his mane. Ordinarily Jaehwan would complain about not getting to ride too, but Hakyeon's emotions were too strong for the second grader to handle on his own. Upon arriving home Hakyeon ghosted away to his room looking drained. Taekwoon plunked down on the couch from exertion. 

Hakyeon's father called out from the workshop "Hi boys. Come on in." When only three boys walked in the set of parents frowned with concern. 

"Taekwoon turned to a horse on the way here so he's on the couch cause he's tired and Hakyeon went to his room. The phone will ring real soon and then we'll know why. Cause I don't know either. He just seemed really upset." Wonshik informed them dutifully.

"Yeah, he was like super upset. I couldn't get him to calm down all the way." Jaehwan added with an apologetic shrug. 

"That's alright. Thank you for trying." Mr. Cha assured him with a sad smile. And as Wonshik predicted the phone rang.

Mrs. Cha answered it and put the phone on speaker so that Mr. Cha could participate too. 

"Hello Mrs. Cha, Mr. Cha. This is Hakyeon's teacher. I don't know if Hakyeon's told you already or not, but some kids pranked him by leaving live frogs in his coat pocket. It startled him pretty bad, poor kid. I wanted to call and apologize, because I didn't handle it the best way. I wanted the ones responsible to step forward and…I told them I would make them stay until someone fessed up. One boy, who will be getting detention, said that no one would fess up because they didn't want to get cursed."

"You're joking." Mrs. Cha with flat incredulousness. 

"I'm afraid not. And I'm really kicking myself because I was angry and just blurted out better one person get cursed than the whole class. I'm so sorry. I know Hakyeon would never do something like that. He's a sweet boy. I'm really sorry. I'm the adult and I just…failed. I failed him big time." She sniffled as if she had been crying and was about to do it again.

"Ok, it's ok. Everyone makes mistakes. Have…have the kids responsible been caught? I suppose in this situation it would be best if we let them remain anonymous, but I want to know that something is being done." Mrs. Cha inquired. Contrary to her words she was shaking with rage. In concern Jaehwan held her hand so she wouldn't drop the phone.

"I'm afraid not. I'll be sending out an email asking the other parents to talk to their kids about bullying and see if that might yield any results."

"Bullying. Does this happen often?" Mr. Cha asked. He was calmer on the surface, but his voice had an edge to it.

"Yes." Taekwoon answered from the doorway, however he was too far away for the teacher to hear.

"I think so. He always tries to play it down so that the other kids don't get scared of him, but regardless…some people have their…assumptions about your relatives…People are scared of the curse put on the town." She admitted uncomfortably. 

Mr. Cha exhaled heavily. "It's not a curse. It's just a spell used by my ancestors. Nothing bad happens to anyone. It only keeps people in our valley from spreading word to outsiders about witches living here. There are those who would hurt or even kill us without even trying to find proof of harm."

"Ah…the rumors, I thought-…"

"It's a misconception spread by those who fear what they don't understand. Curse magic is a crime amongst our people and has harsh consequences." Mr. Cha tried to keep his tone even and reassuring despite feeling outraged by the woman's ignorance. 

"I see. I should have known better. You and your kids have always been friendly and kind. I'm sorry I'm messing up so much today. Is Hakyeon alright? He was pretty rattled when he left." 

Taekwoon spoke up. "No. And I smelled Hakyeon's coat pocket as a blood hound. It was Chanyun, Baekyu and Pyowoon." [made up names]

"Ah-eh, hello Taekwoonie. Um…you wouldn't happen to have any other evidence would you? I'm not sure if the principal will act on just that alone."

"Get a second dog to do it." Mrs. Cha suggested sternly. "It won't change the outcome."

"Uh…I don't think I can legally go that far…" The teacher hesitated. 

"Well we'll call the cops and report harassment so they have to bring police dogs trained to do that kind of thing. My sister says they bring them to the high school." Taekwoon sassed. 

"Taekwoon." Mr. Cha warned sternly. Taekwoon just gave him an angry shrug and mouthed 'what?' indignantly.

Mr. Cha took over. "I understand that might be over stepping boundaries. But you also understand our concern over the issue as a representation of ongoing bullying. We expect that closer attention to be paid toward these children harassing Hakyeon within whatever frame work you have to operate in." 

"Certainly. I'll do what I can. And again I'm so sorry about how I handled the situation."

"That's alright. Now you know. We just want to prevent further issues. Thank you for calling. Please let us know if there are further developments. Goodbye." Mr. Cha finished. For being the fire elemental he had a more disciplined temper. He turned to the other two hot heads to scold them, holding Taekwoon's and Mrs. Cha's hands to keep them grounded. "You two, schools have laws they have to abide by so slow down. I don't like it either, but in their eyes it was just a frog. You have to have more of a case to get strong punishment like suspension or getting them expelled. Taekwoon, do you think you could make a list for us and write down what you see them doing?"

"Easy. For starters they call him Cha Hak spawn when they think we aren't listening. They've stolen his lunch and homework a bunch of times. They leave mean notes in his desk. They scatter if he goes anywhere near them during recess. They don't talk around him or to him unless forced to. They spread rumors about him and say he's evil. If things go wrong they blame him. Is that enough?" Taekwoon listed, angry tears accumulating.

"Yes…" Mr. Cha choked. He brought Taekwoon to him for a hug. The Cha's looked heartbroken and the younger kids stared fearfully in the wake of the new disclosure. "Taekwoon I need you to save every note. We'll start stamping his lunch foods and papers so that these kids can be caught. Does this happen to you too?"

"Yeah, but not as much." He whispered. 

"I need to go check on Hakyeon. We've left him all by himself for too long." Mrs. Cha swiftly swept out of the room. 

"How about you guys?" Mr. Cha asked. Jaehwan nodded and joined the hug. The younger boys stammered about it kinda being that way and ran into the hug as well. 

. . . 

"Yeonnie?" Mrs. Cha cracked the door open and gently setting Hyuk on Hakyeon's belly before laying down next to him. "I thought Hyukkie might cheer you up a little."

"Hi Hyukkie." Hakyeon rasped. The little dragon bumped his nose to the other's looking concerned about the hurt radiating off of the boy. Hakyeon gave him a weak and watery laugh.

"Your, um, your teacher called. She wanted to call and say sorry for talking about curses. How are you feeling?"

"M' ok. It wasn't that big of a deal. It just startled me. I shouldn't have cried about it. That's the most embarrassing part."

"Baby, you don't have to hide this stuff from us. How long has this been going on?"

"It's always been that way, but…if I get mad they'll just get scared of me and hate me even more." Hakyeon's mother swallowed hard.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry silly goose?"

"I didn't want you to worry. And I didn't want everyone looking at me and, I don't know what the word is…judging me I guess…"

"Sweetheart, no one is judging you. We just want you to be safe and happy. We talked to your teacher and she's going to help more. I want you to speak up when they hurt you."

"They aren't beating me up or anything."

"Ok, well when they do things that make you feel bad or make you want to cry. Taekwoon told us about it and I know that would make me cry if they did that to me."

"Blabber mouth. He was mad that I wasn't mad. He yelled at me. But then he carried me home as a horse so I guess we're good."

"Well he and I are mad for you. Same with Dad, but he controls his emotions. If I could I would kick down the doors and chase off the little brats I would."

"I'm glad I don't go to school with you." Hakyeon teased. "What were you and Dad like in school?"

"Oh geez. I was a rebel with terrible grades and the only time I behaved was when I went to Grand Auntie's house to learn magic. And your Dad was a straight A student on the soccer team and speech and debate team. That's why he sounds so smart. He's really good at magic because he's a Brainiac."

"Were people mean to you guys?"

"Well, Dad was called the ice king, which is funny because he's half fire elemental. He was really athletic and intimidating because of how he glares when he doesn't wear his glasses. People left him alone. He was lonely, but he also wasn't interested in the other kids. As for me I didn't start out with the Cha name (I was a Min), so it wasn't as obvious that I had magic. When I was younger the other kids didn't know and treated me the same as them. In high school adults were mean so I stopped going and got what's called a G.E.D."

"So if I glare like Dad people will leave me alone?"

"Uh, probably not. You're my little ball of sunshine. Don't change yourself because of them. I don't want you to be an ice king. I have to remind your Dad that he shouldn't be all icy either. Taekwoon's got a naturally scary glare, even though we both know he's a marshmallow. Let him do that for you. He's your guard dog huh? Eventually people will realize you're really nice and they'll feel bad. But right now they're dumb kids. Dumb kids that we're totally going to bust." Mrs. Cha said the last part with a sly smirk. 

"Moommm!"

"What? They aren't going to get away with this."

"Mom, it was just frogs."

"In general sweetheart. Those bullies will wish we cursed them."

"You're crazy."

"Crazy about you." She kissed her son's forehead.

"And what about Suyeon, Jiyeon and Boyeon?" [Made up names. In Korea it's common for all siblings to be named with one common syllable.]

"Oh gosh. Well Boyeon is like Dad. He was happy playing by himself. He always liked travel and he did a lot of studying abroad. It was nerve wracking for me to have my baby so far away, but it sounded like he had fun. Jiyeon WAS the bully. We had to keep a close eye on her because she would pick fights. Unfortunately your older sister is a little too much like me when I was a teen. Grandma says it's revenge for putting up with me. And Suyeon is a lot like you, a little ball of sunshine. Girls are generally nicer to each other. And she was really shy so no one really paid her much attention. You're much more social."

"I still don't know what to do then. I can't fight them, or hide from them or ignore them or scare them."

"We'll think of something…..Do you want to come down stairs? I think everyone is pretty worried."

"I'm kinda tired. And…embarrassed about crying so much. My eyes hurt. I think they might fall out."

"Sweetheart I think they understand. It was kind of a wakeup call for the younger boys too. They didn't think things had gotten that bad did they?"

"They probably heard the rumors, but I didn't tell them about the other stuff. I tried not to tell Taekwoon either, but he's nosy."

"More like protective. We want to know these things. Would it help if me or Dad started walking you to and from school?"

"They don't really bother us when we're walking around. I think they know that outside of school we can use our powers and that stops them."

"I see." 

"Can I just sleep for a little while then come down?"

Mrs. Cha sighed. "I suppose. I'll come get you for dinner if you aren't up yet." She kissed both the boy and the dragon on the forehead and let them rest. 

. . .


	5. Spell Holder

I felt like making a chibi Hyukkie after making the adult Hyuk. (Line work on chibis is way easier so I did my own this time.) 

Chibi Hyukkie has a happy. He caughted that pesky tail that keeps following him.

[](https://imgur.com/jBfaTEu)

At least Hakyeon got to have a little bit of Halloween fun. The fourth grade class had a class pizza party and all wore their costumes. They didn't have to do any serious school work that day. It was Halloween crafts and making 'scary' snacks. They watched a Scooby Doo movie and played games to win candy. Taekwoon did do a human costume though the younger boys debated on if it counted because he was dressed as a cowboy and cow was in the name. Hakyeon had a monkey onesie that oddly enough, among all of the costumed kids made him feel normal. 

Instead of marching right through Hakyeon's front door as they usually did after school, the monkey, the cowboy, the doctor, the power ranger and the anime pirate rang the doorbell with their backpacks held open yelling "Trick or Treaty!" Mrs. Cha giggled and brought forth the candy Wonshik had predicted she had bought for them while they were at school. The afternoon was relaxed and they were allowed to play instead of do lessons. They even took Hyuk out to fly. 

"We'll be taking him with us tonight so it would be good to let him burn off a little energy." Mr. Cha explained warmly. It was a first time for Taekwoon, Hongbin and Wonshik to see Hyuk in flight and they starred in awe, watching the baby dragon glide, dip, climb and dive down to catch a critter of some sort on the other side of their back yard fence, then a few minutes later was back in the air. They all played outside until the sun started fading. At one point Taekwoon pulled Wonshik aside. "Is something going to happen tonight? I mean- don't tell me if it will give you a seizure. Maybe just find out if finding out would hurt to look?" Taekwoon asked nervously. Wonshik meekly sat down on the grass. He mulled it over about whether or not such a question would be considered too big to even do that. It would be pretty telling. Taekwoon squatted down next to him. "You don't have to, don't worry about it. Pretend I didn't ask ok?" He recanted with a small understanding smile.

"No, I want to try it. It sounds like a good idea. I'm going to do that from now on before I look for stuff." He closed his eyes to feel for the spark and felt a stab of pain that felt like it was in the middle of his brain. Rubbing his head and waiting for it to subside he whined "Ouchie, ouchie. Yeah, definitely too big. Good idea on checking the seizure thing first because finding out the answer for the other thing would have probably wiped me out. Ouchie." Taekwoon paled and offered to go get him some kid aspirin. Getting Wonshik settled for a short nap and some light medicine would probably make him feel fine soon, but it would not make it that way for Taekwoon. 

"Mrs. Cha, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure Taekwoonie, what's up?" She asked with nervous confusion. He pulled her inside the sliding door to the dining room to talk in a hush.

"Something…something bad is going to happen tonight. I can feel it and Shikkie is laying down for a little while because I asked him to see if he would get a seizure looking into what will happen tonight. He said he would've gotten one."

Mrs. Cha sifted her fingers through his hair gently with a look of resignation. "There is a possibility it could go wrong. I tried to look and I couldn't get an answer either. Divination when it comes to Hyuk is really unclear. All we can do is show up and find out. They can't force us to do anything. I'd rather be disowned than let anything bad happen. Does that help?"

The boy gave an lost looking shrug before his idea struck him. "I guess…wait, I could make myself look like Sanghyuk and pretend to be him and go with you guys instead of him."

The middle aged woman gave him a small smile. "No, Taekwoonie, not this time. It will be ok. You should go have fun. These meetings can get a little complicated with lots of old customs. No one will get physically hurt though. Knowing Gee Gee, Hakyeon's great great grandma, she'll scar someone emotionally, but she can't actually do anything to us." Mrs. Cha finished wryly. 

"That doesn't make me feel better." Taekwoon pointed out sternly. 

"I know. But tonight isn't something we can avoid. A lot of important decisions get made and if we don't show up we don't get a say in them."

"I won't be able to have fun if I'm worried about Hakyeon and Hyukkie." The boy pouted.

"They will be safe. But go for the younger guys' sake. Keep them safe ok? Especially if Wonshik is still feeling sick. If he is he will need you. Until we know something we shouldn't make the others worry. I know I'm asking a lot, but I need you to trust me. Besides, you know Mr. Cha and I are the most skilled witches in our families right? And it's something Mr. Cha doesn't like to admit to, but he's kind of like a prince in our family structure. It's kind of like he's in line to be the head of the family one day. They have to respect him."

Taekwoon tipped his head to the side in confusion. "Does that make Hakyeon a prince too?"

"I guess so, yeah" Mrs. Cha with a warm smile. "But don't tell him that. It will go to his head."

They shared a laugh and Taekwoon walked away from it a little more light hearted. Mrs. Cha just felt more chilled. She already knew something would happen that nobody could change. 

. . .

Hakyeon's father looked over his lineage as he signed his family in. Being as Gee Gee was the oldest member of the family everyone used her as a reference point on how they were related. His branch was one of the easiest. Hakyeon's great, great grandmother Guerin (or Gee Gee as everyone called her) had been from the prestigious il family before marrying Cha Yubin. Their first son was Hakyeon's great grandfather Jaesoon. His wife had passed away years ago and they only had one child, Hakyeon's grandpa Jongsu. Grandpa Jongsu married a spirited fire elemental, grandma Seo. They had their only child, Daejin, Hakyeon's father. He married Soli and they had four children together. Compared to all of the people who had multiple generations of multiple kids this was nice and simple. 

Upon seeing his father off talking to one of his cousins Daejin face palmed. The one person that could reign in grandma Seo had just left a fire elemental and a dragon unsupervised. 

It worried him when he saw a crowd standing in the door way of the kitchen and all the counter space taken up by what seemed to be spectators. And of course much to his chagrin, he elbowed his way through to see his mother manipulating little colorful balls of flame that would tickle Hyuk then run away to be chased around the island. "Mom, please don't rile him up. He'll make a fuss if he wants to play later on and can't." Daejin complained. 

"Well if that happens hand him over to me. I'd be more than happy to leave the meeting and bring him back here so he can romp around more. The kitchen floor is tile, it can handle it."

"Mom." He said in a warning tone. 

"Soli my dear, your husband is being a spoil sport again." The old woman clung to her daughter in law in mock complaint. They just giggled together as Mr. Cha narrowed his eyes. They busted into full on laughter when Sanghyuk skittered into the cabinet door by the man's feet in hot pursuit of his new favorite toy. Daejin 's older family members would blanche to know Hyuk was off his leash. But he seemed to be entirely enamored with the old fire elemental and she with him. Go figure. 

"Daejin, relax. I promise not to burn your grandfather's cabinets." 

As if on cue "Seo dear, I hear you're trying to burn down my kitchen." Her father in law, Jaesoon, teased with a good natured smile. Daejin picked up Hakyeon for a piggy back to let the elder sit down. The leader seemed to be enjoying the show put on by the oblivious and enthusiastic baby. That was a good sign. Jaesoon 's opinion counted for more than anyone else's. 

"Dad, I can do it too. Look." Hakyeon extended his arm out as far as he could over his father's shoulder and let a little ball of red flame circle in his small palm. Daejin beamed. "That's looking really good Hakyeonnie. Show great grandpa."

The elder looked up at the boy's lowered hand and let out a happy gasp. "Ah, remarkable. Well done Hakyeon!" The old man praised. Hakyeon hid a pleased grin on his dad's shoulder as he extinguished the fire. "You boys are definitely going to make fine dragon wranglers."

"So we get to keep him?" Hakyeon whispered. 

"Of course. That will be one of the easier things to agree on tonight." He gave Hakyeon a smile tinted with a hint of sadness and a light squeeze to his hand. Just then the crowd parted for Daejin 's father to come through. He placed his hands on his wife's shoulders lovingly before telling his own father "I've been told we have enough people signed in to begin."

"Ah, very good Jongsu. First Hakyeon, why don't you catch the little one and put him on his leash so that he doesn't get trampled as everyone moves into the great hall. Then we'll ring the bell." Hakyeon scrabbled down and it took a little bit more chasing as Hyuk was still in play mode, but soon he was contained and panting. Hopefully he would be content to rest now. 

Gee Gee was already sitting at the middle of the table at the front of the room. There were chairs for each of her children and their spouses, nieces and nephews and their spouses. The first part of the night was usually the most tedious as each of the elders' children presented the on goings of their offspring. It was usually mundane things that had happened since the last meeting, such as this child got A's on her report card and that one has mastered some sort of spell casting. If there were important issues they got tabled until all of the presentations were over so that they could just get through it. Being that Hakyeon's line was that of the eldest son their turn was at the beginning and usually quick. 

Normally just Grandpa Jongsu addressed the elders, but he brought Hakyeon along as well to introduce Sanghyuk. 

The dragon, being all played out was pretty docile as Hakyeon brought him up to each elder to see. The room had the perfect acoustics for everyone to hear him answer each elder's questions. Everyone seemed calm and curious more than anything. But when he came to Gee Gee she eyed the creature with suspicious distain before releasing a puff of smoke from her cigarette. Hyuk sneezed a few sparks as he sniffed at the unfamiliar smoldering thing. As she fixed a hard stare at his father, Hakyeon quickly moved to the next elder to keep Hyuk from nipping at the smelly carcinogen stick. That and there was an eye tattooed on her hand that made him feel like he was being watched. It gave him the creeps.

"Daehyun! How dare you keep such a creature. It's going to get us all killed." 

"Grandma, we've been over this. His name is Daejin. We don't have a Daehyun in the family. And besides what makes you think that Sanghyuk will get us killed?" Jongsu demanded sternly. Being as she was 110 years old it wouldn't have irked him so much if it was just senility, but she had never called Daejin by his proper name, probably to spite Jongsu for marrying a fire elemental. 

After all the family joke was that the old woman's hobby was to invent new ways to be bitter about something. She was so good at it not even the grim reaper wanted to put up with her. They were honestly all quite ready for her to kick the bucket. The only relief they had gotten in the past few years was when Jaesoon had had to confiscate her driver's license and keys. Only then had she reluctantly ceded her leadership responsibilities to him as well. For tax purposes she gave him the house. She was the matriarch in name only.

"It's dangerous. Get rid of it." She hissed. Hakyeon's father made his way up to the table and planted his hands on it to face down the old woman. With a cold smirk he crooned. "Now, now Gee Gee, you'll have to give me a proper reason to even make me consider doing that."

"I know what you're doing Daebin and your little plan isn't going to work. That thing won't change my decision. You bought fool's gold."

"Mother stop being nasty and answer Jongsu's question." Jaesoon commanded dryly. 

"It's not covered by the silence spell. It will attract unwanted attention so get rid of it." She spat.

"Surely we can write him into the spell." Daejin suggested.

"Over my dead body." She growled.

"So we'll do it soon then?" He shot back with icey calm and a controlled, instigating smirk. There were murmurs following the comment. "Alright, alright. Enough. We'll table the issue for now. Jongsu, please continue your report." Hakyeon finished showing the far side of the table the now sleepy dragon and his father shepherded him back to their seats.

"What of those anomalies?" Gee Gee rasped unpleasantly before taking another drag on her cigarette. 

"They are doing well and continue to make progress in their tutoring. They will be able to live unhindered lives as long as they continue their practice in controlling of their abilities. My son DAEJIN and his lovely wife Soli have had a hefty harvest this year and their consulting business is running smoothly. They have a steady client base and their folk remedies are popular. Non-magic folk are still concerned about stigma associated with witchcraft, but when they're allowed to ask questions that usually puts their fears to rest. As for the children, Boyeon, age 24, is progressing to the next semester on his master's degree in Greece. Jiyeon, age 22, is enjoying her work in translation at the publishing company in Japan. Soyeon, age 18, has started college in the capital. She is considering majoring in botany. Hakyeon, age 10, is currently in the 4th grade and as you know has been raising an orphaned baby dragon with the help of his parents and the children his parents tutor."

Jaesoon responded after shooting a shut up glance at Gee Gee. "Very good. It sounds like everyone is doing well. Tell Boyeon and Jiyeon hello for us. I look forward to hearing about how Soyeon likes university. Have there been any difficulties in Soyeon's adjustment to being outside of the valley?"

"She's pretty shy so making friends has been has been a slow process. Soli said last time she called she spoke of a book club she's interested in joining that is taking place in her dorm, so hopefully good things will come of it. Other than that she's found her studies enjoyable and is getting used to the culture shock of adulthood." Jongsu teased. 

"Well that's good. Again say hi and tell her we're rooting for her. If she ever needs help navigating adulthood she's welcome to give any of us a call. And for Hakyeon? I presume his magical studies are going well?"

"Yes, very studious that one. He has an impressive grasp of spell work and has many casting materials and their uses memorized."

"….there's more." Jaesoon pressed with a raised eyebrow. The family looked a bit reluctant and Hakyeon brought his feet up crisscrossed under himself. He adjusted Hyuk more comfortably and turned his gaze to his scales.

"There have been…issues of bullying from the non-magical students at school, for both Hakyeon and the anomaly children. The issue is being addressed by the faculty within the laws they are bound to."

"So in other words those miserable, self-entitled worms don't fear you boy?" Gee Gee interrupted. 

Hakyeon stared at her wide eyed and gaped, knowing what he wanted to say, but too afraid to make words of it.

"It's not our way to spread fear. That is no way to build peaceful relationships." Daejin remarked. "And as my father said, it's being handled."

"That is all I have to report." Jungsu concluded, and upon dismissal returned to his seat. The rest of the evening dragged on a bit. Hakyeon was nearly asleep when they had gotten to the end of the extended family reporting in. The combination of his mother petting his hair as he rested his head on her lap, the warmth of Sanghyuk in his arms and of his father's coat over him and the baby dragon's cute little snores had lulled him into finally being comfortable enough to doze

. . .

After a much needed intermission they began again with the portion that was hopefully much shorter.

Jaesoon stood to announce "As you all know Gee Gee had her 110th birthday this summer. She is approaching her hundredth year as the silence spell holder and a successor needs to be appointed and trained soon before she reaches 113. We ask that you young people consider volunteer-"

Gee Gee stood and thundered over her son. "I've already decided on who my heir shall be. This silly whole family decision isn't yours to make. I already told you lot." Her gaze swept along the table of outraged elders. One of her nephews rose. "What gives you the right? There are sacrifices and risks that go with this responsibility, you can't just force someone to take those o-" Gee Gee slapped her fingers to her thumb and the nephew voice died on his lips.

"Those sacrifices and risks deter everyone. No one would volunteer, so I've decided myself. A child was born ten years ago that was destined for this and is now ready to begin training." 

Daejin rose to stand in front of Hakyeon, wearing a cold stare and a controlled smirk. "I told you then and I'll tell you now. You can't have him you old hag. I'll do it even if I have to live until I'm 150. The spell would keep me alive."

"I see what you are doing boy. You really think that dragon is going to change Hakyeon's stars? It's a myth and you know it. I will not change my mind. He is a prodigy in the lines of my first born and born on my hundredth birthday. It will be him or the spell dies with me. All of these people will be left unprotected and praying to God that hunters don't hear word of us. You see why I want that dragon gone? If he were to change Hakyeon's stars you would all be in danger. I'm merely thinking of all of you." Gee Gee's sickly sweet ending words did not match her stare of malice. A clamor from the horrified relatives rose, many coming to stand protectively around Hakyeon and volunteering in his stead. The poor boy was terrified and clinging to his mother in her protective clutch. He didn’t notice that Sanghyuk had flown to the table until he clunked down on it and hissed at the manipulative old woman, wings flared out and sparks crackling on his exhales. She just gave the dragon a sinister smirk. "You aren't old enough to understand your own magic yet, you vile little monster." She then made to leave to room. Calling over her shoulder she announced. "I have nothing more to discuss with any of you. Do what you want with the rest of your problems. Jaesoon, see to the arrangements for the boy to live here." 

Hyuk must have thought he had driven her off because he sat down with folded wings and creaked as if calling for his family to come get him. He was already worn out and flying with the heavy leash was difficult. Grandma Seo was there to pick him up and bring him over to her stunned family branch. Great grandpa Jaesoon called for order so as to let the parents and child have some breathing room. Grandpa Jongsu herded them to the sitting room to settle them on more comfortable seating. They just stared blankly trying to figure out how the nasty old witch could have blind sighted them with such a threat. Daejin scrubbed at his face before silently standing. "Son, where are you going?" Jongsu asked.

"Off to go play some cat and mouse I think. I'll be back soon." Daejin stroked the vacant looking boy's cheek before setting off.

. . .

"These rotten meetings always drag on, don't they Daejin?" She remarked as she slowly lowered herself to an arm chair in her room. She didn't need to look to know he was present. He took the chair opposite and with a wave of his hand lit a fire in the fire place.

"Ah, nice and cozy." She remarked appreciatively.

"mm, I must say well played Gee Gee. I didn't think you would stoop so low. Does it make you happy to know Great grandpa Yubin would be disappointed? Or does that not matter to you? Being as it was an arranged marriage and all."

"You'll have to do better than that boy. I won't be losing any sleep over this."

"And what if I threatened the same? You can rot under that spell until you take a volunteer. Sure this may have been forced on you, but there is no reason to be cruel to others and do the same."

"Your generation is so ignorant. You've never known the terror of being hunted. I did choose to carry the spell. I came to this valley as a refugee, the last of the il clan. The only way your forefathers would let us reside here was if we agreed to be bound to the town and as they put it, give up our dubious ways to ensure we kept good will with our neighbors. Bye bye poisons, hexes, curses and evil eyes. Compared to what we were running from this seemed like a small price to pay so I did what needed to be done."

"I'm aware. Those were very different times though. My children live abroad peacefully. In the media witches are portrayed as good guys. You ever hear of the Harry Potter series. It's a pretty big hit internationally. I think we could manage without the silence spell."

"Don't be stupid. I heavily warded your children to hide them in plain sight. You're under the misconception that we're hiding from nonmagical humans. We were hunted by things that weren't human as well. Fae courts that believed we stole some of their sacred knowledge, ancient dragons who wish to destroy our kind for how we butchered them for parts, other witches who think that if they use us for blood sacrifices they can become immortal. I've never really understood the draw of immortality. 110 is bad enough, you would be miserable trying to live to 150."

"I would rather be miserable than let my son suffer."

"Suffer…it's not so bad. Sure, I can't leave this valley, but I've been comfortable enough I suppose. I can't die while I hold the spell. My magic fluctuates more than I would like now days, but that's why the family tithes so much magical essence to me. The expectations people place on you to be an all-powerful leader is cumbersome at times. Many of them don't see the behind the scenes spells cast for them or the constant monitoring I do. You didn't even know I have your children warded. Hakyeon needs to begin training. There is lots of knowledge to pass down. What spells to use and when, how to recognize intruders and how to fight them, how to channel his magic correctly so the spell doesn't tear him to pieces."

"You still think I'm going to let you bully me into letting you take my son away from us."

"You make it sound as if I'm kidnapping him. You still live in the same town and can see him at any time."

"I'm calling your bluff Gee Gee. Goodbye." Daejin told her and left the room to collect his family. The old woman fumed and plotted.

. . .

"Guys? What are you doing here? It's just past 11pm." Mrs. Cha asked while exiting the car with the conked out dragon nestled to her. The four boys were grouped on their front steps still clad in their Halloween costumes except Taekwoon who was curled around Wonshik as a newfoundland. 

"Please don't be mad." Jaehwan pleaded with puppy dog eyes. "Shikkie had a seizure out of nowhere and asked us to bring him here. That and we kinda told our parents we would be sleeping over here." The boy chewed on his fingernails nervously while awaiting her reaction. She let out a long exhale before waving them inside.

"Jaehwannie, Hongbinnie can you go help Mr. Cha with the doors, he's carrying Hakyeon. He fell asleep and I want you guys to go to sleep too. Tonight was…difficult."

"Tell me about it." Hongbin concurred on his way out. 

After carefully setting down Hyuk on a chair without waking him she grabbed a blanket to wrap around Wonshik. "Oh, sweetheart you're freezing." She said as she cradled his cheeks.

"I did the best I could." Taekwoon said with a hurt pout.

"Oh, no. You did just fine sweetie. I'm sure you're cold too though." touching his cheek too and sure enough.

Wonshik tugged on her sleeve. "Mrs. Cha I swear I wasn't trying to look for anything. It just happened."

"It's ok Shikkie. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts."

"I'll get you some kid aspirin."

Mr. Cha walked in with the two other boys trailing behind him looking dead on his feet while supporting Hakyeon's deadweight in his arms. He looked around at the boys. "Nope, I don't want to know." He said hollowly. Since there were all five boys he set his son on the couch so they could take over the living room. As they mechanically pulled out every blanket they could find to wrap up in, the parents looked over the boys' haunted faces. Jaehwan guided Wonshik to sit in the middle of their first layer of blankets. As he looked up slow tears rolled down his cheeks. "Mrs. Cha, Mr. Cha. It-it-…it h-has to be him."

. . .


	6. Risks and Sacrifices

Hakyeon awoke with a large cat and a dragon curled together on top of him. Light streamed through the sliding glass door in the dining room. The only one up yet was Jaehwan who had some great bed head going on. He was playing a video game with the TV on mute.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hakyeon asked in bleary confusion. 

The younger paused the game and picked his way over the two blanket covered lumps. 

He sat on the floor next the couch. "I'm not entirely sure."

"That's not helpful."

"I mean we're here because Shikkie got a seizure and he insisted on coming here, but you guys took forever so we lied to our parents about spending the night here, though actually now it's not a lie. But Shikkie said something like 'it has to be you' whatever that means and your mom started crying and then your parents went to go to sleep. All I know is stuff must have gone bad because everyone looked pooped. Your turn. What do you know?"

"Um…can you help me get these two off? Maybe if you lift all the corners of the blanket and set them down." The two animals roused a little, but weren't interested in joining the land of the living yet. 

The two boys went to track down cereal and Hakyeon talked while they munched. "I guess I'm gonna be taking over for Gee Gee's on something. They made it sound like a bad thing so I'm nervous. Everyone got really upset. She said if I don't do it she's going to get rid of the silence spell."

"The one on the town?" Jaehwan asked.

"Yeah. I don't really get it." Hakyeon said over a mouthful of cereal. The boys groggily went back to video games to pass the time until everyone else was awake. First Hongbin followed shortly by Hyuk who bounded over to him, leaving Taekwoon without his heat source. He transformed back into a drowsy little boy. Next was Mr. Cha who silently started making pancakes, eggs and bacon even though it was nearly noon. Mrs. Cha followed and with hollow movements started helping him. The only one left was Wonshik. It was a toss-up about whether to bother him awake or just leave him be because of last night. Before they came to a consensus Taekwoon bit the sleeping boy's shoulder and that ended their dilemma. He was fine after a good night's rest. 

After an uncomfortably long silence at the breakfast table Hongbin broke the ice. "So…is anyone going to explain what happened?" The nervous parents traded glances and Mr. Cha rubbed his wife's back before talking. 

"So I guess I'll start with the spell put on the town, the silence spell. You all know what it is? It keeps people from telling outsiders about us. The spell is only possible if it's bound to a person. Right now it's bound to great, great grandma Gee Gee. When she's held it for 100 years it's time for her to give it to someone else. It takes hard work and training to do the transfer, generally three years. She did the transfer when she was thirteen and she expects to train and transfer the spell to Hakyeon, being as he's good at magic, he's young and some other weird ideas that don't actually mean anything."

"Like the shared birth date and that we were born exactly 100 years apart?" Hakyeon asked.

"Yes. It's not an actual requirement, but she's…stubborn….Hakyeon do you remember when they said there were sacrifices and risks?" Mrs. Cha choked back a sob and excused herself.

"Well the most risk comes with the transfer. Training minimizes the risk, but not done properly it can kill a person."

Hakyeon went pale, but swallowed and whispered "What else?" as resolutely as he could.

"After taking on the spell you would never be able to leave the valley. You physically would not be able to. No Greece, no Japan, not even going to the capital to see your sister. Another thing the spell does is both keeps you alive and feeds on your magic. Do you remember those blue liquid bottles we give to Gee Gee at every meeting? It's some of our magical essence to keep her strong. All of us adults give her a little every time. She needs to refuel her magic because there is still a lot of spell work she needs to do to protect the family. I asked about it last night and there are more threats than I realized. She has to monitor every single person that is from outside of the town that doesn't fall into the requirements to be considered a resident."

"And Hyukkie doesn't fit into those?" Hakyeon asked. The other boys looked around at each other unsure what it meant.

"We can write him in. Gee Gee was being mean because she thinks I brought a constellation weaver dragon here to try to alter the outcome of her decision or as she puts it, change your stars. She probably won't acknowledge the fact that we just found him by accident. But defending the town from people passing through would possibly be dangerous…..there's one more thing, but I think we can negotiate with her on it. She wants you to live with her so she can train you. Your mother and I came up with the idea that maybe instead of living with her she would only get to have you during school hours so you would be doing homeschool with her more or less. But…." Mr. Cha rubbed his face wearily. "Shikkie can you tell me the details of what you saw last night?"

The boy let out a long haunted exhale. "It was weird. I had the view like I was on the ridge outside of town. There were two Hakyeon's standing in front of me and they looked like they were kinda growed up. One had a triangle with an eye on his hand, the other didn't. Then there were like two scribbled out people who came up. I think they were supposed to be the same person, kinda like the two Hakyeon's. The Hakyeon with the triangle covered one of the guys' eyes and he left without doing anything. The other Hakyeon…th-th…th-wh-th-wh…" Jaehwan rubbed Wonshik's back as he broke down. When he managed to catch his breath he croaked out "The scribble guy stabbed him and the whole town turned on fire. I- hg-I don't want to see these kinds of things anymore. It was so scary. I wasn't trying to look for stuff. I don't want to look for things anymore." Wonshik broke down again with tears coming down in torrents. 

"Gee Gee's tattoo." Hakyeon said blankly. He caught his father's eye and he nodded a confirmation. There was no changing this.

. . . 

Great Grandpa Jaesoon's house felt very big without all of his relatives teeming through it. He welcomed them in and led Hakyeon and his parents to the sitting room where Gee Gee was looking through some papers. 

"Glad to see you came around." Gee Gee purred, eyes not lifting from her sheets of paper. 

"Well we had a rather gifted seer show up at our door and tell us the results of the alternative. Hard to deny a crying seven year old asking to never see such violence again." Mr. Cha remarked in cold, casual manner. With a softer look he patted the seat on the couch next to himself to tell his wife it would be alright to relax. She still stood near the doorway clutching Hakyeon to herself, awash with barely contained emotion. Hakyeon put on a brave face and led her by the hand to sit with his father. 

Gee Gee slid the papers across the coffee table. "We may have to cheat the education system a little bit for the next three years, but I am open to letting Hakyeon have a tutor to learn all of those mundane school subjects they seem to think are SO vital that they must be taught now. Here is the home schooling paper work we need to fill out. Also when will you be bringing by his things? I would like to get started right away."

Mrs. Cha spoke up with a tight voice "He lives with us Gee Gee. He will be brought here during school hours, but will return home every night. We will agree to let him stay over should special circumstances arise as long as you agree to allow the same of us. We wish to let Hakyeon travel as much as possible before-…..They will be a week or so long trips depending on distance. He will spend as many weekends here as needed to make up for his absence."

Gee Gee wore a glib sneer. "Soli darling, you don't understand. I want him to live here because I can't predict when trespassers will wander through and he needs to learn how to deal with them in real time. I can only do so much coaching. Learning by experience is required."

"But…aren't there ways to simulate that?"

Gee Gee chuckled and lit a cigarette. After taking a drag she responded. "Don't be daft dear. That is the coaching. The only way to eliminate fear is to do the real thing. When I'm gone he'll be thirteen and taking care of the responsibilities on his own. For all intents and purposes he will be doing the work of the holder, I'll just be in the background to offer instruction, but not help. The sooner he understands that no one will be able to rush in and save him AND the sooner you all come to grips with that, the easier it will be for all of us. 

The best I can offer you is Monday through Thursday you can have between after school hours as you call them and 8am, which I suggest is when he does his homeschooling subjects required by the school district. You are more familiar with them than I am, I imagine. I will allow for the travel, but be careful with it. You don't want him to develop wander lust. It will lead to a life time of unhappiness."

"What about getting to see my friends?" Hakyeon asked softly. 

Gee Gee and her tattoo eyed the boy with a steely gaze and on an exhale of smoke acquiesced "We'll see. I'll consider it." While Hakyeon would be facing harsh realities soon enough she wasn't heartless. She had lived through being denied many of the things she had wanted in her childhood. She had raised her own children and knew what children needed. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she had friends that had given her a little bit of normalcy in a world where no one would acknowledge that she was just a scared orphaned refugee child. A child who had run from a murderous dragon that had killed all of her living relatives for ancient crimes they had nothing to do with. If she had to be cruel to make sure her family didn't have to know that pain then so be it. When she looked at Hakyeon she saw what should have been. She may have to be harsh, but she wouldn't do to him what they did to her. She saw him for what he was. A scared child.

"Hakyeon, why don't you go with grandpa Jaesoon to pick out a bedroom. There are plenty on the second floor, but I have a feeling you might like the attic room. My children fought over who got to have it when we first built the house." After the two left Gee Gee messaged her temples. 

"Believe it or not I'm not doing this to torture any of you."

"Could have fooled me." Mrs. Cha responded with defiant tone.

"Think what you will, but I will do my best to make sure this isn't a repeat of my childhood. It's a hard job, but it's not as if he's doomed to a life of unhappiness. He'll be able to go about his life as normally as possible for the most part once I'm gone. He won't have to do one of those awful non-magical jobs so many of you kids complain about. Many of my material possessions have been spoken for or given away already, but all my money goes to him. I have a trust fund set up for him. The payments are enough for him to live comfortably. The contents of my workshop are his as well. Jaesoon will most likely let him keep everything here and give him 24 hour access. You'll have to ask Jaesoon what he plans to do with the house to know for sure. Any questions?" There was a long awkward silence before the clatter of Hakyeon rushing down the stairs.

"Mom! Dad! You should come see this! It's so cool up there." The parents had already seen it before, but indulged Hakyeon, ready to get away from the atmosphere of animosity. The attic had an assortment of oddly shaped windows with built in furniture working around them like desks, shelves, dresser drawers and closet. There was even an adjoining bathroom. On the portion of the house that looked like a tower there were some floor level windows and a circular bed just above them within the conical roof space. It was certainly more detailed than the his rectangular room at home. 

At the door way Grandpa Jaesoon watched the boy show his parents all the features. "Hakyeon, what color do you want the walls to be?"

"Uhhhhh….dunno. Red maybe?"

Grandpa Jaesoon murmured a long string of words before taping on several different walls. He made them several different shades and hues. "Here are some choices, when you narrow it down let me know."

"Woah!! Cool!!! Can you teach me how to do that?" Hakyeon asked excitedly.

"Of course. For now though, lunch will be ready any minute so how about we eat and then maybe this afternoon you can go home to collect a few things to keep up here so it isn't so barren."

"Sounds like a plan." Mr. Cha replied. 

Gee Gee declined the lunch invite (much to the relief of Mr. and Mrs. Cha), but before they left the sitting room she dryly commanded "Tomorrow instead of taking him to school bring him here." 

. . .

Gee Gee's workroom was so different from Hakyeon's parents. His parents worked with herbs, teas, candles, spell books and potions. Their room had comfy chairs, a fireplace and stove top for potions, inventory packaging supplies, shelves full of bottles and jars. It was bright with sunlight and calming. Gee Gee's was much more intense. 

It was a large rectangular room interrupted on the short length facing the front yard with a circular alcove (or the base to Hakyeon's bed tower as he liked to call it). That's what they started with as it was the most dynamic piece of the large room. It had a raised circular platform with a glass top to protect the scale model of the valley below it. In the future Hakyeon would not be able to leave the boundaries that cut the hills in half at their peaks and top ridges. Gee Gee told him it would be like running into a wall if he tried. The map was fascinating to watch. It would adjust itself as tree leaves changed color, as it snowed, as flowers bloomed. It would erect new buildings by itself to mirror the changes and growth in their 12 square mile domain. And rolling around on the map were beads the size of military dog tag necklace beads, one for each person. The little buildings didn't have roofs and the beads would all fit into it. It was weird to think that the small box that represented his school contained just over 350 beads.

Gee Gee walked to the center of the map and with a yard stick pointed out "See that one rolling slowly? That's a mail man. And that one rolling faster is someone in a car."

"Wow….wait, how do you know he's the mailman?" The boy questioned in confusion.

"Habit, but also this. Here put these on. They are essence spectacles, they allow you to see the flow of magic. Right now you can't see it with the naked eye, but once you become the spell holder you will, and you'll still see a full range of color so don't let the black and white scare you." They looked like old fashion glasses that had blue lenses. Sure enough everything was black and white except for bits of blue, probably magical essence, that was holding up spells around them.

"Now take this sewing needle, repeat after me and tap the tip on the glass above him." Hakyeon followed her instructions and a blue line shot from the eye of the needle behind them to a library looking area on the far side of the room. "Go ahead and grab the book that the string is attached to." The boy scampered off to the pull the book off the end table in between two arm chairs that sat perfectly in front of shelf wall. Gee Gee asked for the needle back to touch above the beady marble again, rattling off another incantation. A date showed up. "You can take the glasses off for now. Open that book and turn to that date. The book you are holding is everyone born in the 1970's. Why don't you read through his details a bit. Does it say he's a mailman?"

After scanning down Hakyeon confirmed it then she had him set aside the book. "For some reason the spell records those kinds of details. I don't need to know those things. I just need to know who calls this place home and have it either memorized or written down. I think my predecessors were nosy and meddlesome, but I digress. These beads are color coded. The dark grey ones are local people who don't have any magic. If we scoot over here to the far side here's my house and there we are. Local people with magic have a blue color, the brighter the blue the more powerful their magic is. There are some anomalies. Like your Grandmother Seo is over here. Because she's a fire elemental she's got a more blue green color. Do you see that white circular piece of glass hanging on the wall? Grab that…….now, put it over top of your school." Gee Gee adjusted the height the frame that was holding it at. It focused in on an enlarged image of the floor plan of Hakyeon's school on the main floor. "It looks like three of your friends are here. They have that same blue green. If we adjust this a bit…here is the next floor up. There is your other friend."

"Taekwoonie!...I bet he's pretty bored without me." Hakyeon swallowed down the hints of emotion that statement gave him and looked up at Gee Gee, ready for her to continue. She gave him a subtle look of pity before continuing. "Move the glass to this building. This is the hospital and if we adjust this a bit in this area is the maternity ward. See those gold balls. They are newborns. They stay gold for only a short while. I've already got these three recorded in a book for this corresponding decade. And if we move over here to this building, it's the morgue. People that have died have white beads. Mr. Noh finally passed. He had an aggressive form of cancer not even we could treat. To notify us that someone has died a thin beam of white light, like a laser, shines on them like it's doing now.

"I thought that was just a hole in the roof and light was shining down." 

"Nope, always watch for thin light beams, they are alerts. The babies I already recorded had a gold light beam. Normally I wait until the body goes to its final resting place to take out the bead, but Mr. Noh is-was Jaesoon 's friend and already told him that he wished to be cremated. It makes me uncomfortable to leave beads in the kiln or on someone's mantle. See how the cemetery next door has a bunch of dark grey splotches, those are left behind by extracting the white beads. Here, take the needle, tap the glass above him and repeat after me." As he did the white ball floated up above the glass and Gee Gee grabbed it after a few feet. She found the book for the 1940's and laid the ball on top of it. It absorbed in like it was made of liquid.

On her return trip she grabbed something from the worktable along the wall. "There currently aren't any outsiders in town at the moment, but beads of outsiders will look like this. These magenta colored ones are people with magic. These red-ish orange ones are people without it. When a new one appears in town a red line, kind of like how a laser line looks, will follow it and extend up to the ceiling. Maybe I'll have Jaesoon order something from the closest town twenty miles over south and you can see it with the delivery people….If the bead is really bright red and glowing it means the person is really dangerous and is out to cause trouble. They are rare and I'll teach you how to deal with them. 

"…..you said that Sanghyuk is dangerous…why doesn't he have a red ball?"

Gee Gee looked away and gruffly answered "As of right now he's an animal. If he takes a human shape he would get one and I can write him into the spell. Until then people can talk about magical animals they see. If someone here tells the wrong type of person about a dragon they might come looking."

"….But he would only get a red ball if he's out to cause trouble? If he wasn't he'd be bright pink right?"

"I pray you are right. But in my experience that's never the case….how about you look around at the different buildings and roads and watch what people do."

After a few moments of study Hakyeon called out "Hey! I saw some. There were some orangey beads on the train going through the pass."

"Very good" She remarked with a small smile. 

"What's up with these ones rolling together?"

"It's probably a car full of people." 

Hakyeon crawled over the map for several more minutes before turning his attention back to Gee Gee. "It's so weird to see all of the beads rolling around like that. How many are in here?"

"All 5238 people who live here right now. You could fit all of those beads in a box the size of the 1970's book."

Hakyeon's jaw dropped. "That's a lot of people."

"For reference there are four times as many people at just your sister's school alone." Hakyeon looked like he was on information over load. 

"Don't worry, our town will more than likely never get that big. Lots of young people move away after high school. Let's go over to the table in the middle of the room." Hakyeon was a little confused at first because it was just a plain wooden surface. Until Gee Gee lifted the two wooden pieces to reveal three maps. There were more beads scattered all over with the same dark greys and various shades of blue. They weren't moving at all, but at that scale it made sense. 

"People who move away or just visit and go home are rolling around on these since I have to keep record of who is under the spell. On the under sides of the lids are maps with our county and then our country then on the table top is a world map. When a local leaves the valley their bead automatically reappears over in one of these. Since your sister lives in the capital her bead is here on the country map. Now when we fold these down all the way to see the world map. Here is Greece and there is your brother, there's Japan and your sister. See these patches of purple? Those are other magical communities. Like your sister has been integrating into the Omara Clan there in Tokyo. They've been taking good care of her. Why don't you grab the white glass again….now put it over Greece. There's purple bits all over the place. Lots of old magic." She started cleaning up all of the things they had taken out when something hopped through a doggie door on the exterior French doors. Hakyeon hadn't even noticed that detail of the room. A loud flutter and flurry of green feathers landed on the table Gee Gee had just placed the lid back on, causing Hakyeon to let out a startled yelp. 

"Of course there's a ton of magic in Greece. Those idiots that think they can call themselves gods made a big mess of things." A large green parrot remarked. 

"He's right, many things that call themselves gods are not. A real God is sinless. Hakyeon this is my familiar Jules, Jules this is my new understudy Hakyeon. We're training him to replace me down the line."

"Really? He's so tiny." 

"I'll grow. I'm only ten." Hakyeon told him with a defensive pout. 

"What is he going to do? Bike to where trespassers are making trouble and chase them out of town with a squirt gun?" The parrot mocked him. 

"Jules, don't test my patience. What is it you have to report?"

"A blue Jay told me that Daejin has the dragon outside flying right now."

"Sanghyuk needs to stretch his wings, what else are we supposed to do?" Hakyeon asked in defense.

"Not have a dragon." Gee Gee said while kneading her forehead. "Just keep track of who sees him. I can't really do anything else about it."

Jules hopped off the table and back to the doggie door to squawk out of it. 

"All of the none migratory birds around here are my eyes and report to Jules. He translates what they say. At some point we'll have Jaesoon take you to the next big town so you can pick something out and we can enchant it to be a familiar so it can help you with the birds. I suggest a parrot as they are able to annunciate the most clearly and have the best range for learning bird languages. Jules scoot. Out here is our open air aviary. Lots of birds nest here for winter because the wall of the fire place offers warmth. I keep it spelled to do that during the winter months even when I don't have a fire lit. Most of the little birds are away doing their day time patrols, but the owls who patrol at night are here. I'll have you hose the place down every now and then to get rid of the droppings."

The aviary looked like a greenhouse with really murky glass. The top part of the front wall didn't have glass which was where the birds came in and out. There were tons of little roosts and boxes all over the room for birds to hide in. In some of the larger boxes there were ten owls snoozing. "This one is the friendliest." She clicked her tongue to get the medium sized tawny owl's attention "Hi Chicken Nugget. Just going to bug you for a minute. Hakyeon you can pet him."

"Chicken Nugget?" Hakyeon giggled at the name.

"That's what happens when you let a four year old name birds. One of your forth cousins really likes owls. His four year old brother tagged along and it just stuck. Apparently he's looks like one." Gee Gee said with distain. The sleepy owl seemed to enjoy the gentle strokes on his soft feathers.

"Close the door! You'll let all of the cold air in!" The familiar cawed. Gee Gee ushered the boy back inside with a roll of her eyes. "We'll get you a familiar that isn't as bratty."

"I heard that!" Jules said, sounding scandalized. 

Gee Gee ignored him. "Let's see, what else…At these work tables I do spells that involve paper. For the time being don't touch those until I show you how to work those spells. Moving papers even just a little can affect things. Anyway, questions, I know this is a lot to go through in a short period of time."

Hakyeon looked dazed and shook his head. He needed a break and it was only 9:30. "Right, well how about you go play and run around for a half hour so I can set up what we're doing next. You can go anywhere in the house. I believe there are some of my children's old toys in one of the closets in your room. If you want someone to play a game with you grandpa Jaesoon would probably do it. And Jules likes checkers." Hakyeon smiled at the last part. He wanted to see a bird playing checkers. Gee Gee shooed the two out and sat down in an arm chair. Hakyeon greeted grandpa Jaesoon in the hallway before bounding away with the grumbling bird gliding behind him.

"I thought you two might like a snack, but it seems your pupil has tired you out already. Already calling it a day?" Jaesoon teased as he set down a tray on the end table that had cookies and juice. 

"Don't be a smart ass. It's just recess. He needed some time to let his mind rest and I needed to rest my feet." She chided as she took a gulp of orange juice. 

"What will you do next?"

"Ugh, probably origami lessons until lunch time. Then we'll do essence flow lessons when we're a little more energized."

"Arts and crafts?"

"Yes, smart ass. There is spell work that I use in the warding charms that requires precise folding. I know what I'm doing Jaesoon. Or do you think that I was lacking as a teacher back when you were his age?" She sassed grumpily. 

Jaesoon chuckled. "No, but I remember you being much more…happy-go-lucky."

"I was still young and pushed around by people I didn't realize I had power over. I had to change my frame of mind after the way they tried to treat Miah. I had to develop a no tolerance policy for people who think they can toy with me. Just because your sister had down syndrome didn't mean she didn't know what they were saying. Hell, Miah was more controlled with her magic than that crazy child Seo."

"I still remember that meeting where you told all the old people that if they tried to lobotomize her you would lobotomize them." Jaesoon chuckled. 

"Things were pretty backwards in the 1930's."

"You gave her a good life though. Back then it was unheard of for people with that condition to live to 46."

"What can I say? I wasn't going to let them lock her up like some animal. And they called me a bad mother for keeping her. What nonsense. Thinking about this is making me mad and melancholy. Change the subject."

"How is Hakyeon as a pupil?"

"Good, he was obedient and paid attention well. He's a bright kid. I think this will work out nicely."

. . .

Most witches didn't think about flow when doing magic and most of the time it didn't have any major consequences. But the silence spell was very old magic and not even the old woman knew for sure what its origins were. To see what she was talking about they did some basic spell work while he wore the essence spectacles. It wasn't necessarily that Hakyeon had to relearn everything, only that he had to practice with flow constantly in mind. He needed it to be like muscle memory and the way to do that was practice every spell he knew (and would learn) with the essence spectacles on, mindful to follow each path carefully. There was the grim reality that he would die in the transfer if he messed up. 

Suddenly spells he could do without too much thought had become frustratingly slow and clunky to him.  
"Ha, that's what it feels like to be bad at something. That's what most of your weaker cousins feel like trying to do what you do. I bet you don't feel that very often. But stick it out. It wasn't too bad for your first day." Gee Gee told the boy wryly. "Go on down, I heard your father's truck coming up the drive. Rest tonight. No magic until tomorrow." Jaesoon waved Hakyeon goodbye as he scampered past to climb up in the truck.

Jaesoon interrupted her reverie with a chuckle. "Mother, you look tired. How did it go?"

"I'm not used to being around people for so long anymore, but he did fine. I think his frustration will make him all the more determined which is nice. Most people just give up when something doesn't come naturally. This stuff never comes naturally to anyone. It might not even be natural at all. I still think it could be elven or fae. They have even tighter security than we do. But if we asked them we'd get shish kabobbed for knowing things we shouldn't." She mused.

. . .

"How did it go?" Hongbin asked. The boys were all finished with their lessons and sitting in a circle to chat. Even Sanghyuk, with the way he sat in Hongbin's lap, looking between those who were talking, looked like he was following the conversation. The jury was still out on if the baby dragon was actually trying to develop comprehension or not though.

"It was…different than I expected. It's hard but not as scary if that makes any sense. I mean Gee Gee looks scary, but she wasn't being mean. The workroom was crazy cool. She has a big map of the town and tons of books and a parrot as a familiar. She has a ton of birds. I got to pet an owl."

"You make it sound like it's the first time you've ever done that." Taekwoon pointed out wryly.

"Well….it's the first time I've ever seen an owl named Chicken Nugget. And you guys should see the room I get on the weekends. Maybe Gee Gee will let you guys come over some time."

"Yeah! Party at Gee Gee's house!" Jaehwan crowed. 

Hakyeon froze, but warmly continued. "Um probably shouldn't call it a party, but yeah. How about you guys? Did ya miss me?" He giggled. Judging by how tightly Taekwoon was clinging to him, his answer was yes. The younger boys wouldn't give Hakyeon the satisfaction of being missed though and responded with sarcasm. Besides it was common for them not to see the older kids during the day time since they didn't have lunches or recesses together.

"At least Taekwoonie still loves me, you traitors." He said in mock offense.

"It's sad without you." Taekwoon mumbled. 

"We'll still see each other after school most days." Hakyeon tried to reassure him. 

"I don't like going to school without you. I don't have anyone to talk to anymore." He grumbled. "Jae how can you stand it?"

"Oh, I talk to everyone whether they want to listen or not. I get in trouble for not shutting up all the time." The second grader giggled. "They can't hide their auras, they like my jokes and my animal pressions, but they won't admit it. And a bunch of girls think I'm cute. I can see that in auras too. But I learned my lesson last year. Don't go around telling everyone who has a crush on who." (It was the final straw that had gotten him brought to the Cha's to learn control.)

"You should go to our class and see what the other kids' auras say about Taekwoon." Hakyeon suggested. 

"I don't want to talk to them." Taekwoon whined. 

"Well Kyungsoo doesn't talk so you should be partners with him. He's ok."

"They call him satansoo." Taekwoon responded petulantly.

"Oh don't be a brat. We have nicknames too." Hakyeon scolded.

"He got his for a reason. He hits people…and chokes them."

"Yeah so? You hit people too. Besides he had to avoid me or else things would get bad for him with the nickname and all. He's not bad. He once gave me his sandwich when my lunch got stolen. Remember?" 

"Ok…fine. I'll start sitting next to Kyungsoo." He slumped over to rest his head on Hakyeon's thigh and pout. The younger boys had all they could take of serious conversations for today and ended up branching off into a fractal of tangents. At one point Taekwoon rolled to face away from the younger kids. Hakyeon noticed Taekwoon was crying, but decided to keep his mouth shut to give his former classmate privacy. The other boys could sense it, but let him be as well, ignoring the sniffling as Hakyeon stroked the crying boy's cheek.

. . .


	7. Goblins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I posted it then took it down ten seconds later. I had some editing I wanted to do after I realized some of the sentences sounded weird. I'm a little more happy with it now. Enjoy :D

Mrs. Cha was restless and Mr. Cha thought it was a little funny. "Dear it's only been a day and a half. We get him back on Monday."

"I just…stop laughing. I'm allowed to miss my children. I can't stop thinking about my baby." 

"Well why don't you call one of the older three to take your mind off things. See how Suyeon is doing with her classes. Or we could take Sanghyuk out for some exercise. He's kind of like our reptile child." Mr. Cha suggested.

"But I'm worried about my Hakyeonnie. Like what if she's overworking him or making him do dangerous things? What if he's lonely or, or, or cold or something." She was pacing now and Mr. Cha pulled her to sit on his lap in his arm chair. 

"He's fine. Gee Gee talks tough, but she wouldn't actually let him get hurt. And you know you can go over there right?"

"I don't want to be around that vile woman. She kidnaps our Hakyeonnie." Mrs. Cha pouted petulantly.

"I know. But wouldn't you like to spite her by bringing Sanghyuk to play with Hakyeon. You could bribe Jaesoon into letting Sanghyuk in if you bring cookies. I'm sure they would all like cookies." He coaxed. Her eyes lit up at the idea and she was off to the kitchen to crank out a batch. 

He missed their son too but he was trying to be disciplined about it. It had hit him a little hard when he forgot and went to wake Hakyeon up for breakfast. Instead he decided to funneling his empty nester syndrome angst into planning as many vacations as they could take over the next three years. He would need to re-examine their budget, maybe look into refinancing the house, and do a little overtime work when Hakyeon wasn't there to have the money for it, but it would be worth it.

. . .

It wasn't long until Soli was ringing the doorbell with a tin of cookies and a playful Sanghyuk getting tangled in his leash.

"Soli Darling? What are you doing here?" Gee Gee asked when she answered the door.

"Well I made some cookies and I thought I'd bring them over for Hakyeon. They're his favorite kind. Sanghyuk and I would like to come in and see him." She said, confusion and concern peaking as the old woman stood stalk still eyeing the little monster at her feet.

"He isn't here right now. But I'll make sure he gets them." Gee Gee said blandly as she held out her hands to receive the tin. 

Soli's expression fell into a glare. "Where is he then?"

"He's with Jaesoon, they're making a day trip to the goblin colony to observe what their spell work is like. They do concealing spells as well as a silence spell."

"HE'S WHERE?!"

"He'll be safe with Jaesoon. The goblin chieftain knows him, being as Jaesoon 's helped them get out of trouble a multiple times. They will be civil. Besides they called ahead. We know better than to surprise them. Introductions were needing to be made anyway."

"Are you crazy?! Hakyeon is a little boy! Have you even taught him battle magic? Goblins are dangerous. The last time one of them came here he over turned a bar and nearly cut off someone's head with a scythe."

"They are a proud people and he was getting disrespected by a human. We both know Hakyeon would never make that mistake. Battle magic won't be necessary."

"Getting made fun of isn't a justification to kill strangers! And what do you mean won't be necessary? I know Jaesoon is good, but he's old. It's hundreds of them vs two witches if they decide they want to make trouble."

"You forget that your son is a human fireball. His abilities would kick in to protect him if anyone tried to get violent with him. It won't come down to that though because the goblins want peace as much as anyone else does. They only get vicious when they get kicked around. They already know the position they're in. They wouldn't risk it." 

"STILL!!! This is the kind of thing we want heads up on! Daejin or I would want to go with, even if it's just to drive them. Besides Jaesoon is 93 and doesn't like to drive anymore. He stopped when you stopped! What the hell is he doing?"

"I'm aware. And he's not driving. Xiumin is."

"Who?"

"The meliae that's lived here for the last few centuries. He's a mountain ash dryad that looks over the woods around the house. His tree is in a clearing at the top of that hill."

"How on earth does a dryad get a driver's license?" Soli asked, hell bent on staying mad.

"The same way as any other human. He's covered by the spell."

"Well I want to meet this dryad that's carting my son all over the map."

"Well they will probably be getting back after dark. How about you come tomorrow."

"Fine, but you need to tell me when he leaves the valley from now on. And not after the fact! I have a right to see my son and know what's going on!"

The old witch seemed genuine, but firm when she replied. "Yes, you absolutely do. And I apologize, I will be more considerate of that in the future. Now, I will see you tomorrow yes?"

"Yeah…..Gee Gee, promise you'll tell me if he leaves the valley, and that it will be before he goes anywhere!"

"I promise."

"Thank you." Soli gritted trying to shove down her anger as she picked up the tangled dragon and stormed off to the car. Poor Daejin was in for a big rant session and a headache. 

When Gee Gee went back to her workroom Jules peaked out of his cage. "Is it gone?" He whispered. Sanghyuk had a reputation of tyranny amongst the birds. Upon confirmation he unlatched his door and flew over to sit on the back of an arm chair across from the old witch. "That didn't sound too good." Jules remarked as she sat down in one of the arm chairs.

"Oops" The old witch snidely rasped while lighting a cigarette.

"I don't know why she's surprised. You did tell her to get over the fact that he would face danger, even if this is really minimal." The parrot said.

Gee Gee let out a long exhale of smoke. "I wish she would. She could put him in danger by getting in the way. The last thing I would do is send Soli to the goblin colony. A jumpy mom that would probably punch someone out if they even so much as looked at her son funny. No thank you."

"You might be facing that in the future if you really are going to uphold that promise you just made."

"I will keep it. I said I would tell her if he's going. I didn't say I would tell her where."

"Now you're just being petty."

"I know. I probably won't do it, it's just a handy loop-pole. I just don't like having to apologize when we both know I'm right. Having to explain why my actions are justified makes me feel like I've got elders breathing down my neck all over again." She leaned her head back and watched smoke swirl as she slowly exhaled. 

. . .

Hakyeon was doing his best not to stare and was failing miserably. He had never seen a dryad before. Or a meliae or whatever Xiumin was. He was pretty. His white hair had clusters of red berries dotting it like a crown and his skin was like smooth bark in splotchy browns and greys. Apparently tree spirits wore modern clothes, though his scarf looked like soft dead leaves somehow weaved together. It was interesting to see the bark bend as human skin does and he wondered what Hongbin would think of the look. Upon a glance at his rearview mirror the driver caught the boy staring and gave him a spritely wink. Hakyeon turned beet red and snapped his attention out the window to fix his eyes on the snow laden trees that covered the goblins' mountain. They pulled off on an inconspicuous bumpy dirt road that ran by a rundown looking house. Jaesoon got out to put a large pink rock in the mail box and then they continued along. After half a mile Xiumin slowed the car when they approached a broken bridge.

"It's part of the camouflage. Keep driving, they assured me there will be road under the car."

Xiumin let out a long exhale and grimaced as he coaxed the car forward. 

"Huh, that rock thing actually worked." Jaesoon teased once they were driving away from it. 

"Child! I will kill you! No more pranks!" Xiumin shouted.

"Why not? You played lots of pranks on me over the years. Besides you really think I would let you wreck my car?"

"When you croak it will be my car. I have a vested interest." The spirit shot back as he patted the dash board. "I've been waiting to get the Chevelle since your mid-life crisis."

"It was Byulli and I's twentieth wedding anniversary gift to each other. So it doesn't count. Nice try… now up here at this rock face stop and they'll let us in. Roll down your window." The hill's rock face opened like a security gate at a fancy mansion as two intimidating goblins in fur cloaks strolled up. Hakyeon could feel magic streaming out of the tunnel, like how he felt when there was a family meeting and he was surrounded by a houseful of witches, but with the intimidating looking creatures it didn't feel familiar or as strong.

"Jaesoon right?" One rumbled next to the passenger side window. 

"Yes, Grand Goblin Corbal is expecting us."

"Drive forward a ways and park near the other cars."

Once parked Jaesoon reminded them. "Remember guys, no smart ass questions and no smartass answers. Got it? These guys went through centuries of bullying and get nervous around anyone who has stronger magic than they do. Don't get offended by any posturing they do. And try not to comment on how messy they are. Let's go."

They were ushered to a cable car. Hakyeon was now very suspicious. Weren't these the kinds of tram cart things the ones that had you suspended high above everything only holding on by a big rope? Yup. He clung to the center pole trying to keep his breathing even. It was amazing to see a town carved under the overhangs in this narrow canyon. However the goats and pigs grazing on grass and thrown away food at the bottom of the narrow rock corridor looked like figurines from that height. The long drop didn't seem to bother goblins that strolled on carved walkways and rope bridges that lined shops and houses. The town was more aesthetically pleasing than one would associate with such creatures and yet oddly not out of character.

Hakyeon really hoped he wouldn't have to ride on this thing again. There were times that if one of the adults reached out their hand they could touch the rock wall. Xiumin had to drag Hakyeon to go on the next cable car when they reached a bend in the canyon. Hakyeon rushed off in a panic when they reached the unloading platform at the very end. The two adults just snickered as the little boy scowled at them and protested "I'm not going on those things again. I'm walking back." 

"Excuse me, our rig is perfectly safe you little welp. And you, that will be three gold for each of you." The operator sneered. 

"Ah, my apologies, the boy means no offense. He's only scared of heights. You'll see him hugging the wall on his way back. We found the ride enjoyable. As for payment I think I may need to ask that you put it on the Grand Goblin's tab as we only have human currency. Unless you take credit card?" Jaesoon said with sly pleasantness. The goblin grumbled and waved them off. They had many modern human goods, but being this remote and dealing with all of the layers of illusion they couldn't get internet hence no card reader. If they did have access they would exploit the hell out of it. 

The trio wandered up to a rock cut building that overlooked the second half of the canyon. A tired goblin woman answered the door. 

"Ah, hello Muriel, how have you been?" Jaesoon greeted pleasantly.

"How do you think? Come on, get inside. I'll bring you to the master." She lead them through pathways cleared of all the things hoarded in the home. Down the hall she stopped them and poked her head into the living room where the TV was going. "Blast it all Corbal. Put some pants on. We have guests!" The three visitors grimaced as they traded glances. Naked goblin was a sight no one wanted to see. "I think we should wait for him in the dining room. Lunch is nearly ready anyway." It wasn't long before their host joined them fully clothed and they exchanged pleasantries before digging into ribs and mash potatoes.

"Hakyeon is my great grandson. He will be taking over as the spell holder for our valley three years from now."

"Ah, well I'm glad you got to see our amazing little hide away before you get stuck."

"Thank you for having me sir." Hakyeon said over a swallow. The goblin was the same height as him and had intense, almost crazy looking eyes."

"Sir. I like that." Corbal chuckled. 

"Hakyeon, Corbal is the chief, or as he's usually called, the Grand Goblin of this colony. And Muriel over here is their spell holder."

"Nice to meet you ma'am."

"You don't have to be so formal with her boy. She's like you. Eat up Muriel, you don't want to fall down and be buried by stuff again do you? Better keep your strength up." The goblin woman muttered something under her breath that sounded like a complaint of Corbal's hoarding. 

"That sounds like it would hurt. Are you ok?" Hakyeon asked with concern.

"Just tired. I don't know how you spelled humans stay so chipper. I hear my counterpart is a force to be reckoned with."

"It's because our family tithes magical essence along with a bit of money." Jaesoon remarked conversationally. 

"Oi! Don't be giving her ideas!"

"Oops." Jaesoon said with an evil smirk.

"Grandpa, what happened to not being a smart ass." Hakyeon whispered to his chaperone. He just got his hair ruffled as a reply. 

"Yeah, Jaesoon, don't be a smart ass." The goblin chieftain maturely echoed. Xiumin gleefully high fived Hakyeon under the table. 

"I like him." The chieftain remarked. "So boyo they're teaching you all about being a holder?"

"Yeah. Gee Gee has been teaching me lots of spells and stuff. She said I should come learn about your silence spell and concealing charms. Like how you hide in plain sight."

Corbal beamed at the chance to brag. "I've done all sorts of things, like our guards wear animal pelts to hid that we're goblins. And like taking that pink rock off the ground gets rid of tire tracks. It's so simple it's genius."

"The rock in the mail box thing isn't what makes the bridge accessible?" Xiumin checked dryly.

"Ha, I take it Jaesoon didn't know why we had him do that. We have a troll out there who takes care of the bridge and gets people across for the right price. To get rid of one of those favors I owe you, Jaesoon, I paid it. No, but my favorite charm is that you can see sky in here in the canyon. Humans see cliff ridges. If one of those satellite doohickeys flew by they would only see rock even in their photos. They wouldn't see any movement, any heat we give off or light or that it's hollow right here."

"What would happen if they tried to climb the ridge?" Hakyeon asked.

"They would never make it that far, but if they did it would be pretty funny for us to watch. They would probably look like a squirrel wiggling around in the sky." The chieftain joked. 

"Is there some kind of repelling spell or something?" Hakyeon asked with his head cocked.

"No, we have guards that would snatch them up." Corbal said proudly.

"Oh, do you have a memory spell that you use before you put them back somewhere?"

"Sometimes." Corbal's smile was a little more sinister for that answer. 

"Corbal, how about you tell him about the house?" Jaesoon diverted from potentially scaring topics.

"Oh, the one you first see when you pull in? We use that as the address all of our packages delivered to. It's the only spot we get internet. So we order and download from there a lot. It's so much better than stupefying a human into bringing us a catalog or to pose as a parent to take one of our ugliest to a neighboring town. The farmer down the way was starting to get stupid from being used so many times and we didn't want to use the mailman too much or else he might start losing our packages."

"And by ugly he means the most human looking." Xiumin clarified.

"Exactly. Tree man gets it. Ugly like Muriel here, but she is a slave that can't go anywhere." Corbal concurred and then loudly belched. 

"Slave to the spell?" Hakyeon asked timidly.

"No, to the chief. I won all of the old chief's things in combat. She came with it." Corbal said with a mouthful of food. "When the hundred years was up I had Muriel here trained to hold it since she was pretty young."

"Goblins have a very warrior oriented culture." Jaesoon said. Hakyeon shrunk in his chair a bit as this was making him uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, honestly the illusion spells I cast are enough, but I keep Muriel around to keep our citizens from running their mouths about us. Some of these gobble heads ain't too bright."

"How come we know about you?" Hakyeon asked.

"Ah, that old sour puss Gee Gee has us written into her spell and vice versa. Not that we really interact with your kind much. She threatened to turn us into pigs if we try to go drinking at your bars again. She has them warded so we don't bother anyway. We'd make it worth your while if you undid those wards." Corbal propositioned Hakyeon with a sly smirk.

"I'll still be in charge, Corbal. I remember having to magic many of your drunks back to your town and out of our jail. You can drink here in the canyon. It's easier for all of us." Jaesoon reminded him. The lunch continued amiably and the Grand Goblin was excited to show off his illusions to the youngster.

Before long the trio were back in the car, stopping only to catch a glimpse of the large troll that held their car aloft. Hakyeon yelled thanks and waved and the troll grumpily waved back. Once they were back on the highway they could go back to more candid conversation topics.

"So if Gee Gee asks what are you going to tell her you learned today?" Jaesoon asked.

"Um, a lot…that goblins can be kinda gross and that Mr. Corbal's house smelled weird. Trolls are huge and one carried our car across the broken part of the bridge. Uh…Goblins use more illusion spells than we do because they wouldn't blend in like us. I learned how they use the illusion spells and what to look for to find them…Oh, Mr. Corbal taught me how to do the spell that makes doors in rocks and how to make it so you can see out of a rock, but people can't see in. And that you told me I had to pretend it was really hard so he didn't feel bad cause their magical ability is weaker and takes more effort. They use the silence spell as a thing to control the goblins from outing themselves when they brag….Uh, they like to brag…They like the internet…Um…They use some mind control on non-magical humans to get stuff and they probably do other bad things to non-magical humans who wander close to their territory. Why do they do that?"

The old witch contemplated the question before answering "…After being bullied so much in the magical world it's the only way they know how to interact to be honest. In their little world the strong survive and the weak get laughed at. Thankfully they live in the middle of nowhere so they don't get visitors." 

"I still don't really get why they don't come to our town instead of taking advantage of people. They would be safe."

"Gee Gee scares the living day lights out of them. That and all of the stronger magic in town intimidates them. They like feeling in control. Sometimes they're mean with that control." Xiumin threw in. 

"Would Gee Gee really turn them into pigs?"

"Yes" The adults said in unison without any hesitation. 

"I didn't know that kind of spell existed." The young witch murmured.

"It's a curse. Because of the deal that was made when she first came here she can't curse humans. Goblins are a different story." Jaesoon explained. 

"Go ahead and keep the questions coming." Xiumin added, pleased to dish out dirt.

"Um…oh, is Muriel really a slave?" Hakyeon asked. 

"Yup" Jaesoon explained "In fact she was the last chief's daughter. She was a little girl when the fight took place. Goblins can be vicious when they think they might have a winning edge and to them it's acceptable to challenge a ruler to a death match to win power." . 

"Is the holder usually a woman?" the boy asked. Being as he had only met two he didn't really have any reference for such things.

"No, not really. Gee Gee's predecessors were mostly men." Xiumin answered. 

"What were they like?" Hakyeon asked. 

"Ooh, I get to talk about them without Gee Gee interupting!" Xiumin crowed cheerily.

. . .


	8. Tales Of Those Long Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all Hakyeon and his family-centric. I wrote this part to keep the story flow smooth, but it's not super super critical to plot so if you would rather skip it in favor of waiting for Vixx interactions my feeling won't be hurt. I'll try to post another chapter that focuses more on the boys soon.

"They say that the first spell holder was the daughter of a man gifted with powerful magic. He needed to hide her away as a cruel fae prince was obsessed with her and demanded her hand in marriage. But her father was cunning and learned all sorts of magical secrets to keep her safe. He thought of the perfect place to hide his daughter, where literally fae could not tread. No fae can touch iron without suffering burns so where better to hide her than next to an iron mine, in an iron house no less? The mine in our valley has long since been depleted, but at the time it was a thriving mining town, even somewhat large for its time. It occurred to the father that there was still the danger of the prince hiring human accomplices. There was already rumor spreading about rewards and it was only a matter of time before the town's people realized who lived amongst them. He cast a spell that would keep people from taking the girl away from the safety of the valley both in body and in word. He was successful in making it so the prince couldn't come in and she couldn't be taken out.

When rewards proved to be fruitless the prince turned to hunting the man's friends and family down for information. The witch convinced many of them to join him in the safety of the valley. To convince them of the safety the witch would write a court member into his spell then disguised as a merchant he would tell the attendant about the information the prince so desired. He would then disguise himself and his relatives as servants to watch the attendant call for an audience. He would get tongue tied and unintelligible. He would try to write the message and the lines would tangle and become illegible. He would try pointing to a place on the map only to have his vision blur so that he couldn't see the features of the land. Since the attendant had never been there himself he couldn't even travel there. 

Some still didn't want to go, so out of concern the man taught them the silence spell and that's how we know about some of the other hidden magical communities. The witch's friends and family lived in peace here and he taught those who were capable of it to use magic. To maintain that peace they passed the spell from holder to holder. Thus the Cha clan was established. They say the prince still looks for the family to this day."

"Really? Why?" Hakyeon asked. 

Xiumin shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's just something evil princes do. When you live so long you need a hobby."

"That's a dumb hobby."

"Yeah, evil people don't get very creative about their pastimes."

"Who was the next holder?"

"Well, I only know the legend of the first. The names of all of them are in one of Gee Gee's books, but I think their details have kinda gotten lost to time. I wasn't around for one through eight. I've only been in the valley for 400-ish years. I've known four of them, you'll be the fifth. I was planted here while the 9th holder was in his thirty's. He was a rather melancholic sort. His first wife died tragically. Exol, the girl that tried to cheer him up planted me unintentionally because she thought he might be cheered up by a tree that was pretty year round on his walked through the hills. She eventually became his second wife, but I felt bad for her because he was still hung up on the first girl for the rest of his life. He didn't get mad when she had an affair with me. In my humble opinion I loved her more than number nine ever loved his first wife. 

The tenth holder did not like me much. Being as my Exol was twenty years younger than number nine she was still around when number nine was training him. He was disgusted with the situation and the little brat told me he was glad she died and wished I would die. I barely left my tree back then because I was worried he would cut it down. Basically he was a prick. I don't know how he fathered such nice kids. 

Number eleven was nice when he was younger, but after he was chosen the generation above him started shoving their ideology on him and he fell under their influence. He wasn't much more than a pawn, doing whatever they wanted. Same with the generations below him. 

It wasn't unusual for magical people to seek asylum here. They would hear rumor of us in other clans. But when number eleven was getting old there was a wave of refugees because a dragon was hunting the il clan and associated clans. Gee Gee's sister had married into the Min clan and when the slaughter was getting bad they sent Gee Gee there. There was speculation that the Min clan was attacked because the dragons knew the name il still existed."

"Is that why Gee Gee hates Sanghyuk?" Hakyeon cut in.

"More than likely. If you had her childhood you'd probably be a little paranoid about dragons too." Xiumin answered. 

Jaesoon had looked like he was dosing, but surprised them by adding "They were golden dragons that killed her clan though. Apparently one of her ancestors killed one in an attempt to gain immortality and that dragon's children were determined to kill that idiot and his whole clan. Her prejudice is misplaced with Sanghyuk since he doesn't have anything to do with them, but with such a long held resentment I don't think we can convince her of that. Try to be forgiving with her, ok?" Jaesoon asked of the boy.

"I'll try." Hakyeon agreed. Xiumin seemed eager to get the story telling (or really old gossip) back on track.

"Any who, the old geezers thought that if they got rid of the il name everything would be hunky-dory, so they married her to Yubin as soon as she entered the valley and asked to stay. Well, promised really. They didn't do the married people stuff until after she became the holder. But it was enough for her to change her name. She was just so grateful that she was safe that she just went along with the whole thing. Honestly Yubin was just as much of a pawn as number eleven until he matured a bit. 

On top of that the cronies in charge back then were worried that their power would be challenged by such an influx of refugees and made them give up their more dangerous types of magic saying that it was for the good of the towns people and that such things were evil. The il clan had its curses and hexes which Gee Gee was really good at it. The Min's had their poison recipes that they had to burn. The antidote recipes are still around though. But anyway that's the whole history of the holder thing." Xiumin surmised. 

"Wait, why would Gee Gee interrupt you though?" Hakyeon asked.

"She's a skeptic and thinks the legend of the first holder is fake. She thinks the guy stole a bunch of magic and used his daughter to make a hide out. BUT I'm right. I heard the legend from Exol who is far older than little miss doesn't-believe-in-happily-ever-after."

"That and she doesn't like it when you talk about her." Jaesoon added. "If she had it her way no one would know that she was really shy and approval seeking as a girl. It messes with her ferocious vibe she tries to project." 

"Why did she change?"

Xiumin continued the gossip "Oh, those pompous old fu-I mean, geezers expected her to be just like number eleven. They didn't give her much time to be a kid. They shoved a lot of their duties off on her. They were the ones that had started the family meetings and made her collect all the information on our relatives and maintain records for them. Those greedy ba-I mean, jerks also took a fat portion of the tithes that were supposed to go to her for living expenses which was pretty awful. If not for Yubin's job she probably would have starved. And back then her map wasn't made yet so they expected her to patrol the boundaries of the valley even after she gave birth to Jaesoon. Because Yubin worked for those old idiots he wasn't much help though over time he did develop or learn spells to make her life easier. Because of all the long hours he worked they had enough to build the house and he surprised her with the enchanted map. It took a lot of fine tuning but it gave her more time to spend with her kids so she could take care of them and teach them and some of their cousins magic."

"Sort of. They still expected her to host lots of their meet ups since we had the great hall."

"Yeah, they expected a lot from her and overworked her. She resented it, but didn't really get any relief until they started trying to tell her how to parent. They claimed that she wasn't fulfilling her duties because she was spending too much time with her kids and they were 'offering' to take them away to help her concentrate. She exploded and kicked them out and Yubin finally pulled his head out of his ass to defend his family. But the old people fired him so he had to start traveling for work. She had to get gruff. Hence the cranky old woman we all know and fear today." Xiumin concluded. 

"My Mom and Dad think she's trying to take me away. They don't say it in front of me, but I overhear it."

Jaesoon let out a long suffering sigh. "She knows its problematic. She doesn't really want to separate you and the only real consolation for her is that it's only for the training period. She and I have been talking about what to do with the house after she passes. We'll figure something out." The old witch tried to assure him. 

"Ok" Hakyeon said nonchalantly. He didn't really feel too kidnapped. It got him out of a lot of chores and school. He felt awful about leaving the others to fend for themselves there though. Maybe he could learn some protection magic for them. He filed it away to ask more questions.

"What were you like when you were little, Grandpa?"

"I was a good kid. Quiet and studious."

"Oh, ho, ho, no. He was a brat. Still is." Xiumin gleefully contradicted. "He was only quiet because he would set up trouble and stand back to watch it all unfold. Where Gee Gee will fight threats head on, Jaesoon eliminated them from the shadows. In fact if you ever see shadows moving in a way they shouldn't that's his doing. The twins were worse though. They never shut up. You didn't have to do anything to set off their bickering. "

"Thank God those two got their own rooms. They were always picking fights and tormenting one another." The old man said in weary exasperation. 

"Which ones were their rooms?" Hakyeon asked curiously. 

"When you first come up the stairs it's the two rooms that are across from the open area over the great hall. I moved back into my old room over Gee Gee's work room when she gave me the house and her room is all the way above the parlor."

"Who had my room?"

"Your great grand Aunt Miah. She won rock paper scissors for it. The twins were always trying to bribe her into giving it to one of them, but it's the most peaceful part of the house so she never did. I would go up there to read so I could get away from the twins being noisy."

"Where is great grand Aunt Miah now?"

"She passed away back in the 1970's. She had really wanted to go ice skating at the pond the bottom of the hill by the house. Gee Gee told her she wasn't allowed to go since it was too cold, but Miah snuck out and went anyway. Miah had a mental disability called down syndrome and sometimes had a hard time understanding the reasoning behind things. While she was skating she slipped and hit her head really hard and it knocked her out and because no one was there with her she didn't get to a healer in time before the cold got to her."

"But wouldn't Gee Gee see her bead leaving the house?"

"It was close enough that it didn't really look like her bead had moved. She was pretty distraught when she saw the white light beam on her. Great great grandpa Yubin went to look for her by himself because it was too much of a shock for Gee Gee." The old man recounted somberly. "Your great grandma Eunbyul died back in the mid 90's from a car crash and your great great grandpa Yubin died roughly a year later from a heart attack. I moved back in to Gee Gee's to help take care of her soon after that. She had lost her appetite and I started cooking and doing chores to help her out. She's still too skinny, but she's doing a lot better now. She and I agreed to stop driving after Byullie's death so that's why we have Xiumin here driving us around to earn his car."

"This all sounds very sad." Hakyeon remarked morosely. 

"Sad things happen. But we're all very old and we all had good lives overall. I'll be 94 soon. What should we do for my birthday?" The old man asked, trying to divert from the depressing topic of death."

"….Sledding?" Hakyeon suggested.

"Hakyeon, he'll break a hip trying to do that." Xiumin teased. 

"It would be fun to watch the kids play in the snow. I could challenge my brothers to an ice sculpture competition even though Jaehee might complain since he isn't particular artistic. Jaegyu would be up for it. I could teach you how to make your snow men move." The old man said mischievously. 

"Yay! Snow party!" The little boy proclaimed excitedly. "Just no ice skating…"

"Yeah, no, too many old people breaking hips." Xiumin agreed giving Jaesoon a teasing smile.

. . .

Gee Gee let Hakyeon go home with his mother when she returned for a visit the next day (not keen on letting the dragon into her house for too long). After being introduced to the dryad who had returned her son safe and sound with compliments on how sharp and polite her son was she felt more relaxed. During that afternoon Hakyeon enthusiastically told his parents of his adventures and the Meliae's story telling. It seemed like one of his favorite parts was getting a wave out of the gruff looking bridge troll.

"I wonder if he gets cold…maybe we should bring him a blanket or something." Hakyeon mused.

"I think you would have to sew together four big blankets to make something big enough to cover him." Daejin told him. Over Hakyeon's head Soli glared at her husband for encouraging further interaction. He just smirked and rolled his eyes. "We can get the address from grandpa Jaesoon and send it to him as an early Christmas gift. How does that sound?"

"Yeah!" The innocent boy cheered. At the mention of Christmas the boy went off for supplies to make his lists of what to get for people and what he wanted for himself. Soli punched Daejin in the arm while Hakyeon was out of the room. Daejin pouted cutely and rubbed at his arm. He had taught her how to properly throw a punch back in their teen years and sometimes he regretted it a little bit. His wife was a spitfire. With the exception of his youngest daughter why were all of the women in his life so fiery? He was glad his youngest children didn't inherit that rebellious ferocity or the cold calculating nature of the men in his family. He found Hakyeon's naïve accepting and kind nature endearing. It was a strength rather than a weakness.

A week after sending the blanket out, in the mail they received a crudely taped up card board box. Inside was a heavily creased poster board that had messy large scrawls in what was probably mud or paint. Hopefully. The color was a little suspicious. 

__________________________________________________________

Tiny Human  
Blanket warm. Keep out water good. I not eat you.  
Thank you.  
Rog (His name was accompanied by a monstrously large hand print.)  
__________________________________________________________

"Well that's comforting." Mrs. Cha said dryly. She cringed when Hakyeon proclaimed that he would hang it up as a poster in his attic room. Mr. Cha got another punch for laughing at her expression.

. . . 

Hakyeon's parents had to begrudgingly admit that Gee Gee was right about the unpredictability of dealing with troublesome intruders. The first incident had come only a week after the goblin colony visit on a quiet Saturday morning.

Hakyeon heard the tinkling of bells "Hey Gee Gee, there is a white light beam on the map." Hakyeon pointed out as they sat at the table in the middle of the room reviewing warding spells to practice magic casting flow.

"Oh…shall we see who it is?" She handed Hakyeon a sewing needle and he scampered over to the valley map.

"Um…Gee Gee…the bead is glowing red…What does that mean?" The old witch frowned and followed the boy. She let out a frustrated sigh as she retrieved a sheet of paper and clicked the needle to the glass with an incantation under her breath. The paper didn't change. 

"Apparently it doesn't remember its name. It's a malevolent spirit. My guess is that it was bound to an object and the seal eroded. Well, it's a good time to teach you about how to handle ghosts and spirits."

"G-ghosts?" The boy squeaked. 

"Yes, get your shoes. It's close by, about half a mile I think. I'll teach you spells as we walk. Jules, send some birds ahead will you? Doves."

Hakyeon's face was turning pale. "Hakyeon, really? Heights and now ghosts? What other phobias do you have?"

"I'm a little afraid of big animals." Hakyeon admitted shyly.

Gee Gee rolled her eyes. "SHOES CHILD! NOW!"

Hakyeon whimpered, but obeyed. It was the first time Gee Gee ever yelled at him. She collected a clay pot with a cork lid that had an inked symbol inlayed in it. 

"No dawdling Hakyeon. Now, this is a sealing jar. In a pinch you can use a different type of container with this symbol written on top, but the strength might not be right. What you do is immobilize the spirit with a spell that will drag it into the jar. Once in, you put the lid with this symbol on it's trapped. And once that's done we can remove it from the situation without struggle. We banish it to the spirit world by either setting the jar upside down in a pile of salt and then put it in a really hot fire to burn off the cork or the other method is taking it to a clean running stream and filling it with cedar ashes. The running water and fire will hold the spirit in there when the lid is open." [I'm totally making this up. Do not attempt.]

"Does it hurt the ghost?" Hakyeon asked with innocent concern.

"No, I mean sometimes they scream because they don't want to leave, but they aren't getting hurt. These two methods are ways to appeal to God, asking that he cleanses the spirit of its confusion and takes it to the afterlife. 

"Does that mean there are bad ways to get rid of ghosts?"

"Yes, but I won't be teaching you those. If you send them straight to hell there is the risk that they come back as demons. Some think that leaving them in their sealed object does the trick, but like this ghost it eventually breaks out and having spent so much time sealed away makes it lose any semblance of logic. It doesn't even remember why it's lashing out, why it stayed or anything about their prior life. Doing either of those is vindictive and reckless. Ok, now let's go over the words to the binding spell." They practiced all the way to the house of the haunting. It was a non-descript house at the end of a cul de sac. An old man had a crying child by the shirt collar and was shaking him, screaming about how dare that child break his window and did he know what he's done. 

Gee Gee snorted in annoyance. "Sir, you aren't even chastising the right child." She said in a snide tone as she passed and walked straight into his house with Hakyeon nervously on her heels. She ignored the old man's flabbergasted protests to the invasion and examined the baseball next to the smashed sealing jar. "Hakyeon, start saying the spell in each room. If it comes at you encircle yourself with flame and keep going." She instructed before turning on the man. "You idiot!" She bellowed, berating him on such a disgrace as keeping a spirit locked away and the audacity of displaying it on his mantle. Hakyeon was jumpy as he wandered into the kitchen to start his task. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark shadow flee down the hall. "Ah! Wait!" He called and chased after it without thinking. He followed it into a bedroom and there standing in the middle of the room was a frightened teenage girl. "Please, please don't put me back in. Please, he killed me. I'm just trying to get justice." 

Hakyeon paused, unsure of what to do. "Uh…it's only for a little bit so that everyone stays safe. We'll let you out soon." She leered at him and advanced. He backed away until his back met the closed door. When had that closed?

"I'm not going to hurt you." Hakyeon said with a shaky voice. 

"Well, if you don't smash that fancy vase I'll hurt you." The girl replied. As she advanced Hakyeon made a cocoon of flame and winced when she burnt her hand on them. He rapidly repeated the spell he learned on the way there and in a vortex she was sucked in. He jammed the lid on and caught his breath. The overhanging bad feeling was gone. 

Gee Gee was arguing with the man and a cowering police officer when Hakyeon emerged. "Got her!" He proclaimed. 

"Ah, good. I've had enough of this. Let's go." Gee Gee scoffed at the men in front of her.

"She said that he killed her." He said pointing at the home owner. 

"She's evil and lying!" The old man screeched. 

"Really now?" She said with a dangerous smirk. "Hakyeon, hang onto her and keep a steady, hot fire circling the jar." She did an incantation to keep herself from burning when she took the lid off. "Speak up you brat. What is it he did? Hakyeon, circle the flames a little lower so she can poke her head out." A miniature of her propped her elbows on the rim of the jar to glare at the small group.

"He killed me."

"That police officer is going to need more than a ghost's claim to arrest that man. Ah Ah sir. You will not move or talk for the next five minutes." Gee Gee spread her fist then closed it and that seemed to hold the man in place. 

"What do you remember?" The policeman stuttered. 

"I remember living in a city. I worked as a maid after school. On my first time going to his house he paralyzed me and used me for…things, before smothering me with a pillow." 

"Do you remember when that was?" The freaked out cop asked. 

"No clue."

"How about city?"

"I don't remember."

"Your name?"

"Don't know."

"Um…address."

"I don't remember my name. Why would I remember an address?"

"Family? School?"

"I don't know. Look I only remember what happened between going to his house and dying." The girl sassed. Gee Gee rolled her eyes and shoved the ghost back into the jar and replaced the lid, nodding to let Hakyeon know they were done with her. "One moment." She told the police man before taking out a sewing needle and doing the spell they did to the beads on the man. She yanked hard on the invisible thread and held out her hand waiting. "Hakyeon, his wallet is on that table, what does it say his name is on his driver's license?" The boy scampered over to it and reported "Nam Yu Jong."

After a minute the book finally floated to Gee Gee's hand. "In here it says his name is Jong Yu Nam and he moved back here in 1993. Might want to check that out officer. And you, you won't be leaving town even if you want to. Hakyeon repeat after me." Gee Gee taught Hakyeon how to essentially put the man on temporary house arrest and then strode out the door with Hakyeon scampering after her to catch up.

"Where are we going?" Hakyeon asked when they turned toward town.

"Need to buy some salt." She stated with a simple shrug.

"Gee Gee, how often do ghosts show up in town?" The young witch asked sheepishly.

"Oh, maybe once every decade or so. That certainly won't be your last." She said with a sinister smirk.

. . .

"Hi Mom!" Hakyeon crowed as he jumped into the car on the following Monday afternoon and buckled his seatbelt.

"Hi Sweetie, how was your weekend?"

"Good, except for the part about the ghost."

"Ghost huh?" Mrs. Cha asked quizzically. 

"Yeah, some kid accidentally hit a baseball through this old guy's window and broke a sealing jar, so the ghost got out and Gee Gee made me catch it. I had my fire so I was safe. The ghost told us that the old guy murdered her and he got arrested."

Mrs. Cha's face went pale. "Oh…I see." She couldn't decide whether it was her eldest son's trotting the globe all alone or Hakyeon catching murders and facing dangerous monster and spirits that caused her more anxiety.

. . .


	9. Have Fun

A suspicious microclimate had developed over Gee Gee's property that week. It snowed. Sure, it was cold in every part of town, but snow had only come in weak dustings. In their little corner of the world everything was piled in pillow-y marshmallows of just the right amount of snow with the right consistency for Jaesoon's birthday plans. The party was to take place on Sunday, but the boys were scheduled to come over that Saturday to play and sleep over. 

That was the plan anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Cha could tell there was a little apprehensiveness amongst the boys. Wonshik and Hongbin were off playing with Sanghyuk during Taekwoon and Jaehwan's turns. "I know it's Friday, but you gotta try to concentrate a little longer." Mr. Cha teased Taekwoon, but the boy remained a little down cast. "What's wrong?"

"Since he doesn't have to go to school anymore Hakyeon's a little different."

"Oh? How so?" The curious father asked.

"Don't know. Just is."

"Does it seem like he feels better now that he's away from the bullies?"

"Kinda." Taekwoon replied pensively.

"He feels guilty for some reason. Especially when he's excited to talk about something." Jaehwan piped up. People really should just ask him when they need emotional insight the boy thought wryly. "He probably feels like he would make us feel bad if he has fun." He finished before going back to his coloring. 

"He's getting so insightful." Mrs. Cha remarked proudly. 

"Taekwoon's been all sad because he misses having Hakyeon around all the time." Jaehwan added in absentmindedly. 

"Jaehwan! Shut up!" The older boy whined.

"Tact is still a work in progress." She told her husband with an exasperated smirk. 

"Jae, how do you feel about going to this sleep over?"

"For once I won't be the most interesting person, so just kinda meh." The quirky boy replied. "That and I don't really know if it will be much fun if that Gee Gee lady is bossy and makes us behave real good."

"You have my permission to go nuts." Mrs. Cha said dryly. 

Mr. Cha gave his wife a chiding look, but tried to reassure the nervous boys. "The house is epic for hide and seek. And you can probably talk grandpa Jaesoon into warding all of the breakable stuff in the great hall so you can play ball inside. There's a TV in the sitting room too so we'll send movies and video games with you. And grandpa Jaesoon has a rampant sweet tooth so you can make a treasure hunt of trying to find his candy stash. I think you guys can have fun. Grandpa Jaesoon and Gee Gee can sound proof their rooms if they get annoyed with the noise level." 

"So in other words, go nuts." Mrs. Cha said with a snicker. 

. . .

The group of little boys marveled at the size of the house and followed Hakyeon around like silly ducklings as he showed them all the things he thought were pretty cool. Jaehwan even started a chorus of quacking. Upon seeing the map the boys lamented that they hadn't brought any hot wheels cars. They also enjoyed meeting the owls, deciding they all needed fast food related names, much to Gee Gee's exasperation and amusement for Jules and Jaesoon. In addition to Chicken Nugget the names extended to Big Mac, Happy (meal), Oreo, McFlurry, Junior (burger), Sundae, Mocha, Cola, and Apple (being as french fry got vetoed, along with juice box, sprite, orange juice, root beer and pickles). 

As predicted Gee Gee retired early and Jaesoon entertained them for as long as he could before he was falling asleep during their movie to only groggily drag himself upstairs. Adding ridiculous amounts of pizza, soda and ice cream did help with their energy levels and it was more lively than Taekwoon had been worried about. Especially when Wonshik called out that the floor is lava in the sitting room and they played tag with the it person being dubbed the lava monster. They snickered conspiratorially as they moved furniture into the great hall to get more space. Couches, chairs, cushions, small tables, even dining room chairs. It was all good until one of the wooden chairs clattered over as Hongbin escaped Hakyeon's monster clutches. They froze wondering what would happen. To their horror they all spun around when they heard someone whistle. Gee Gee leaned on the half wall surrounding the open area above the great hall. She had an evil smile. "Boys, it's one in the morning." They all stared up at her wide eyed and uncertain about what to do.

"Um…sorry Gee Gee. We'll be quieter." Hakyeon tried sheepishly. Gee Gee rolled her eyes and loudly spoke a spell that moved all her furniture back to their original places, leaving the boys cowering in the middle of the great hall. Jules flapped over to her while she watch furniture zig zag off. "What's going on?" He murmured, taking in the whirlwind of household items. 

"Oh, just scaring children is all. I think they're ready for bed." Gee Gee remarked quietly. 

"And you couldn't just say go to bed?"

"And be the bad guy? No way. This is much more fun."

"Not the bad guy? They look like they're going to pee their pants."

"Fun for just me I guess." She quietly remarked before addressing the boys again. "So where do you plan to sleep tonight?" They just gave her uncertain, anxious stares. She snickered at the silence. 

"Hakyeon's room is pretty comfortable or you can build a fort down in the sitting room. Either way I suggest you find a place to get comfy so you are awake enough for the party tomorrow." She meandered off to her room, trying to stifle cackles. After she was out of sight the boys let out the breaths they hadn't realized they had been holding. 

"I didn't know magic could do that." Jaehwan murmured. 

"I mean I did, but I've never seen it used like that." Hakyeon said, still looking pretty stunned. 

"So…fort?" Taekwoon suggested. They boys agreed, not wanting to go any closer to the old woman, glad they were already in their PJ's and they had enough blankets and pillows to be comfortable. They pushed the couches around so they could drape a blanket on the backs and used a floor lamp to hold it all up in the middle. By the time they were done they were drowsy enough to not fight sleep any longer. All except Taekwoon. After he was sure everyone was snoring he slipped out of their fort to go look at the map again, bringing a pillow to rest his chin on. There wasn't much activity from beads this time in the night, most of the beads were stationary in their houses. There were some wandering around in the hospital, the police station and at the 24hr gas station. He spooked when Hakyeon spread a blanket out over him. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you….…I thought you looked a little cold laying on this." Hakyeon said. He closed his eyes and pressed both palms to the glass surface. A thin layer of translucent blue spread out below them that warmed the surface. 

"You should see it during the day." He remarked when finished. 

"People are still awake in this spot." Taekwoon pointed out. Hakyeon scampered off to retrieve the white glass circle and adjusted it so they had a closer view of the floor plan.

"Wow…" Taekwoon breathed out. All of a sudden a thin golden light beam transected a new golden bead as chimes tinkled together. "What was that?"

"A baby! A baby just got born!" Hakyeon smiled excitedly. "I wonder if I can scry to see it."

"Scry?"

"…it's kinda like spying. Like looking into somewhere without needing to be there or use a camera…" Hakyeon said sheepishly.

"Oh, ok, cool." Taekwoon accepted nonchalantly, wanting to see the baby. Hakyeon did several attempts with the clouded white glass, but didn't have any luck. 

"I'm not good at this one. To be honest I feel a little weird about spying." Hakyeon confided once he had given up. 

"I think it would be fun to learn." Taekwoon said with a playful smirk.

"With great power comes great responsibility Spider Man. At least that's what Mom says."

"Fine, fine. No spying." Taekwoon conceded without any real interest to cause trouble. "Still, it's really cool to see the new baby marble thing." 

Hakyeon grinned in agreement. 

"So this is what you do all day?" Taekwoon mused.

"Well, kinda. It's not like I have to sit here and stare at it. It does alerts like that. Gee Gee probably felt it just now. Half the time I'm either learning fun new stuff or I'm practicing stuff I already know, but I have to do it while controlling the flow of magic. I have to wear these funny looking glasses to see it. I could warm up the glass without seeing the flow though. I'm starting to be able to just feel it. I still suck at it though."

"I doubt that." Taekwoon countered with a small smile. 

"I know I'm awesome, but it's not like I'm good at everything." Hakyeon joked. They fell into a comfortable drowsy silence as Hakyeon played with Taekwoon's fingers.

"Do you miss me when you're here?" Taekwoon asked in a barely there whisper.

"Yeah, you're the one good thing about school. I'm sorry you're stuck there. I'm looking for a spell or charm that will make it more bearable."

"Nah, it's enough just to know you think about me. Don't worry though. I'm just glad you are having fun and I like hearing about the stuff you're learning so I want you to tell me about it. I like it when you get excited about stuff. It's fun." Taekwoon replied with a fond smile. 

"You try to have fun too. The bullying stuff will probably get better now that we're not glued together. Just do what looks fun and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Take some chances. It might be worth it." Hakyeon coaxed. Hakyeon pulled Taekwoon close so that their foreheads touched and they could share the blanket and pillow. And that's how they fell asleep.

. . .

Sanghyuk's first time playing in snow was a constant source of laughter. Even Gee Gee acquiesced some smirks, thought Jaesoon did catch her also muttering "Dumb animal." The little dragon didn't like it when the boys tried to put him on a sled, but when they had the snow packed down enough he would skitter down this hill on his belly and then fly back to the top to do it again. 

Hongbin and Taekwoon attempted to build a snowman, but Hyuk didn't have a sense of delicacy. He stood on his hind legs to sniff at it and ended up pushing it over. Before the boys could retrieve it, Hyuk gleefully dashed away with the stolen carrot nose and fluttered to refuge in a tree where he could gnaw on it gloatingly. It made the people in the ice sculpture contest feel a little more secure about their pieces once Hyuk was squared away. Hakyeon and Jaehwan were making a stegosaurus with sheets of ice as the plates on its back. Wonshik rolled up a snow ball that was half his height then, with the help of Daejin, collected icicles off the porch roof to stick into it, saying it was a porcupine. One of the twins, Jaehee, made himself a lumpy thrown and withdrew from the competition. Jaesoon made an octopus with enchanted moving tentacles and his younger brother Jaegyu made a polar bear that he enchanted into walking around. These large frost beings had Hyuk nervously glued to his post in the tree. He hissed and hacked little blue and gold sparks if he felt the bear had come too close. To get Hyuk to come down Jaegyu sent the bear to do a lap around the house with the smaller boys getting to ride it. 

More guests arrived for dinner as the evening came. Those that weren't interested in playing in the cold complimented the works of art before fleeing in doors. As it started getting crowded the boys nicked some food and took the baby dragon up to the attic for peace and quiet. They were all tuckered out after playing and all six somehow managed to pile onto Hakyeon's bed for a nap.

. . .

As nervous as he was Taekwoon decided he did need to figure out how to school without his social shield and security blanket friend. Instead of sitting on the playground equipment anxiously he tried shyly asking if the other boys would let him play soccer with them at recess. The other kids seemed a little wary of him at first, but after he proved to be a skilled player they relaxed, prior associations forgotten. At least by them anyway. If he roughed up Hakyeon's tormentors during the games no one called him on it. Overall things seemed to lighten up a little. 

And at lunch Taekwoon shyly asked Kyungsoo if he would mind if he sat at the same table. They seemed to actually have a lot in common and he learned Kyungsoo 's smile came much more easily than he had given him credit for. The two new friends paired up in class when they needed a partner or needed to do group work. 

After school Hakyeon was always excited to find out what Taekwoon had learned in class, even if it was as boring as fractions or grammar lessons, and insisted Taekwoon showed him how to do it. It seemed to be the only non-magical schooling he was getting and Hakyeon seemed grateful for it. He would even join Taekwoon and Kyungsoo at one of their houses when they had a school project to work on even if it was just to watch what they were doing. It confused Kyungsoo a little bit, but he didn't question it and would go so far as to assign the eager witch some menial task like typing and printing. Being surrounded by old witches Hakyeon didn't get to use the computer very often anymore. (He joked that to the old witches it was a powerful magic that was too technical to learn. Judging by the look of befuddlement on Gee Gee's face when Wonshik had asked her for the wifi password it was true. When the old woman admitted she didn't know what a wifi was the seven year old seemed horrified that they didn't have such a vital modern convenience.) 

While Taekwoon was happy that he was making Hakyeon happy by integrating (and letting him live a non-magical life vicariously through him) he still felt restless. Even though everyone was relatively nice to him, he felt alone with his struggles. Engaging with people so much was wearing him out and he was more likely to shift into his animal form when tired. For the first time in a long time he lived in terror of reliving an incident from first grade. It was the one that had brought him to the Cha's in the first place. 

It had been a boring morning. He didn't even remember what the teacher was going on about, but it made him drowsy and he was relieved when recess finally came. It meant he could sneak out of sight and take a breather as an animal. He had been experimenting with new forms and his new favorite form was a black bear. The trouble was he hadn't expected the animal instincts to hit him so hard and for the human part of him to go completely dormant. He had raided the school cafeteria and the terror stricken lunch ladies had called animal control. There was no lunch served that day and after the fact the whole school knew it was because of him.

Meanwhile Taekwoon had woken up in a cage in the back of a truck and cried when he couldn't figure out what was going on. The animal control workers were going far up into the mountains to release the bear into the wild and screamed in panic when they saw what they really had. Taekwoon refused to come out of the cage until he was brought home, scared he would be abandoned in the wild if he transformed again. 

And somehow it had faded from everyone's minds now. Taekwoon suspected Hakyeon had found that charm he was looking for. He had asked Kyungsoo if he remembered it. The boy just shrugged and replied "Yeah, sure. That's hard to forget. What about it?" 

"I don't scare you or weird you out?"

"Nah, you've got it under control. I think it's kinda cool. I wish I could do it too. I wanna be a penguin." His classmate responded before going back to the word puzzle they were working on. 

And there in laid the illusion. He didn't have it under control. That illusion had been built subtly over time, and the whisper keeping him sane was gone. He wondered when he would crack under the anxiety over it. 

They hadn't noticed what had been done for him as countermeasures, how dependent he was on his best friend.

Taekwoon remembered how he had been just as ignorant and fearful as their classmates when he first started interacting with the Cha's. Hakyeon didn't seem off put by his fleeing and avoidance. Even though Hakyeon chattered at him excitedly when Taekwoon went in for his after school practice, he allowed Taekwoon his distance at school. Nothing bad happened to the animal shifter for it, so he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all he would wait until you least expect it to get a little magical revenge right?

"Just- Just get it over with!" He blurted as they walked to Hakyeon's house.

"Huh?" The older had been babbling about a certain video game and which characters he liked to play as. 'Get it over with' didn't fit the flow of the mostly one sided conversation he was having.

"I-I avoid you at school and pretend I don't know you. Why haven't you hexed me or whatever yet? Doesn't this make you mad?"

"Um…no? I don't mind if you don't want to be my friend. I won't force you to just because you have to come to my house all the time. I guess it seemed that way with how much I talk, huh? Sorry, it's just hard for me to be quiet all day so when school gets done I talk a lot, even if it's to myself."

"That's weird."

"Well I mean I usually I talk to my family." The two little boys fell silent after that until Hakyeon punctured the silence. "I don't hurt people by the way. I don't think I know how to aside from actually going up to them and hitting them. But I've never expected you to be my friend. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone just because they are scared of me. I'd rather be ignored than feared."

"People are mean to you though."

"I know. But isn't it the golden rule or something? Treat people the way they want to be treated -or was it the way you want to be treated…whatever it is, if I ignore them maybe they will ignore me."

"I don't think it works that way." Taekwoon responded dryly. They fell into more silence. "So…you aren't going to hex me?" Taekwoon checked as they approached Hakyeon's front yard.

"Of course not. Haven't you been listening?" The little boy looked at Taekwoon with genuine hurt. When they came through the door Hakyeon tried to escape to his room, but not before he was intercepted by Suyeon. 

"Hey Hakyeonnie! I've got an idea. For my birthday how about you invite some of your friends to the movie theater with us. That way you guys can go watch something else and you won't get stuck watching the chick flick with me and the girls. Taekwoonie you want to come?" She asked brightly.

Hakyeon panicked "U-Uh, I don't mind. It's your birthday. I'll watch what you want to watch. Or I can go with Mom and Dad."

"Mom and Dad were going to make a date night out of it and ditch us though. They wanted to go see that scary movie. I'm supposed to take you along with me. I tried to talk my friends into that new Disney movie so you wouldn't get bored, but they're being stubborn. Besides it could be fun for you to hang out with your friends outside of school. It's next Wednesday in the middle of spring break so they won't have to be at their sports practices for once." 

"They might be trav-"

"I'll come. Hakyeon, you pick the movie." Taekwoon murmured before ghosting off to the Cha's workroom. Hakyeon went pale and murmured an ok. He was sure his sister was doing this on purpose. She had always tried to ferret out who his friends were. 

That had been the push that made Taekwoon decide to give Hakyeon what he wanted which was ignoring him- usually while sitting right next to him at where ever they happened to be. Not that it was easy to ignore Hakyeon. Hakyeon was always at his side silently coaching him whether it was with school work or magic. He would cover for Taekwoon if he accidentally shifted when he wasn't supposed to. If Taekwoon panicked over not changing back right away Hakyeon would talk him through what he had been doing at practice. Even just his presence had a grounding effect for Taekwoon. With Hakyeon he was relaxed, and happy to be next to his friend. Now alone, there was the tremendous effort to be social and equally tremendous effort to control his impulses. The animal in him was becoming more persistent and he was struggling with staying human at school sometimes. 

Sure Taekwoon had integrated, but he wasn't happy.

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[](https://imgur.com/xouIQdc)

I made another one :3 Leo & D.O.


	10. Empathic Projection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I know I said I wouldn't do any more whip lash in the plot, but...my bad...
> 
> WARNING SIDE CHARACTER DEATHS

All day there had been a feeling of tension hanging over their classroom, maybe even the school, maybe even the town and it had nothing to do with the nearing start of the winter break. The clock read 2:08pm when it happened.

Hongbin felt short of breath and when he looked up at Wonshik he wore the same stunned expression, hearts feeling unbearably heavy in their hands. "You felt that too?"

"Jaehwan's mom is gone." Wonshik replied, tears starting to fall over his border line hyperventilation. As the minutes wore on the intensity and frantic despair increased. It hurt so much it almost felt physical.

. . .

"I know it's hard to be apart right now, but I think for the moment Jaehwan should be taken out somewhere secluded. You have two other boys to look after. I'll take him." Mr. Cha tried to reason with Jaehwan's father. "Please Yunchul, people could get hurt right now." The witch whispered to his old classmate. He stole a glance at his wife who was blankly staring at the ground with shaky hands. Neither the hospital staff or her magic could save their friend. 

"Can't you just put a magic bubble around him or something? You're making it sound like we're taking an old dog up to the mountains that might not be making a return trip." The man whispered back.

"No, it's not like that at all! It's just until he's calmer. He's too powerful to 'bubble' as you put it. We have to let him ride it out. This might get to be too hard for some people."

"Daejin, she died because of a car crash in that pass and you want me to let you take Jaehwan up the same road?"

"I don't have any other ideas. I'm sorry. I can…I can feel his heart screaming. It hurts. I know it's hurting you too. This kind of hurt is going to put people on the ground, if they are already depressed this could…send them over the edge. Please. You guys can come too, but we really need to get Jaehwan to a place where both he and the folks around here will be safe. Please."

"I can't leave Shion all alone…Screw it. I know you aren't a crier. I saw you break your foot at the soccer match back in school. It was gross and you kept a straight face the whole time…Go on. Take care of him." It was hard for Daejin to leave Soli alone at the hospital where he knew she would beat herself up about it, but the empathic projection would compound what she was feeling if he didn't act soon. He felt for the family, but there were still many living people that needed protecting. Daejin cradled the boy to himself as he carried him out of the hospital to his truck to drive out to the other side of the pass. He called Soli to find out if the emotion had lifted. "I can breathe again. I still feel like I'm made of cement though. The rest of the people in the hospital look like they're going back to normal."

"Ok, good. Soli, you should keep moving ok? You can't cra-……..slump yet. Try to get Yunchul and the boys settled and then…I know you don't want to, but maybe go to Gee Gee's…just to check on Hakyeon, you know? What do you think? That would be a good place to rest. You were up with Shion all night."

"I- yeah, that sounds good. I can do that." 

"It's going to be ok. Baby, I love you."

"I love you too. Daejin? Are you ok? You sound a little sniffle-y."

"I'm out at the scenic outlook holding the epicenter so I'm kinda feeling effected." Mr. Cha let out a watery laugh. 

Just loud enough for Mrs. Cha to hear Jaehwan croaked out "I'm-I'm sorry-hng-I didn't mean to. I- I can't breathe." He was going through a packet of tissues at a swift rate. 

"That part will pass soon. Just keep it up with the Kleenexes." Daejin told him softly as he rubbed the boys back, kneading at muscles that had become painfully tight as sobs wracked the little boy's body. 

"Jaehwan, darling, no one is mad. It's not your fault. Don't worry about us ok? I'll watch after everyone here and Mr. Cha will take care of you. Got it?" Mrs. Cha said in a soothing voice. 

"He's nodding." Mr. Cha informed her when all Jaehwan could do was let out an incoherent whimper. They then said their goodbyes for the time being. What he said about epicenter felt extremely accurate. It was like an EMP that just kept on coming. All he could do was murmur that it was all going to be ok. His heart ached for Jaehwan, and would even without empathic projection.

It was the worst feeling Jaehwan had ever felt. It was like his body was going to shake apart. All he could hear was the horrible sound of the flatlining alarm. She had been mid-sentence and then suddenly blank. She had been telling them that she only felt a little bit of pain (which it seemed only Jaehwan knew that statement was incredibly false). He had been holding her hand trying to keep her own fear at bay. He felt her constant flow of love from her aura one second and then the next second the aura was gone, along with that safe, constant, affectionate draw. In its wake Jaehwan was feeling all the bad words on the emotion chart now, like a blackhole drawing in everything awful and overwhelming. A small outraged part of him wanted everyone to fall apart with him. Another was terrified of that thought. There was a stupid little hopeful side that kept saying it was a nightmare he would wake up from any minute now. Another side was disgusted with the that delusional whisper. There were many half formed thoughts and questions floating around on the predominantly distraught side of him. It felt like all permanence was dissolving. It felt like he was being ripped apart by a blind power and the more he reached for his mother the farther that power pulled him into nothingness. 

It was becoming too much for Mr. Cha and upon feeling exhaustion setting in, he guiltily murmured a spell that would put Jaehwan into a restful dreamless sleep. It was like a switch had been flipped off. He felt empty and numb as he held onto his serene, slumbering pupil and looked over the scenery without actually seeing it. He would need to get Jaehwan a power suppressant to take for the next few days or else when he woke the switch could be flipped again.

After downing an alertness potion to get back to town, Mr. Cha took Jaehwan to his house and tucked him in, then sat with his childhood friend for a while. He ran through a practical check list- were relatives, friends and work contacted? did the hospital coroner talk to him about funeral arrangements? had he and the kids eaten? When did any of them last sleep? He took careful stock and wrote out a list of what he hoped would be manageable steps for Yunchul to start in on the next day.

Grandpa Jaesoon called to tell him Soli was asleep and that he was welcome to join, but Daejin wanted to be alone for a while. Being around so much emotion made him snap easily or as Soli called it go cold. As guilty as it made him feel, Daejin was repulsed by how useless emotion could make people. How it robbed people of reason, even him at times. Soli and the kids had softened him to it, but it was still there. Bless Jaehwan for reading him like an open book and not holding that aspect against him.

As he walked past the dragon's room he heard a frantic whimper and little claws scraping at the plexiglass. Sanghyuk was desperate to get out and shivering in terror. Daejin hefted the dragon into his arms and meandered to his own bedroom. "I'm sorry boy. It was a crazy day. I'm sorry we didn't come to check on you sooner. I'm here now." While the two didn't really sleep, laying down in the solitude of the dark house was restful. 

. . .

"Daejin, sweet heart, I need you. I don't know what to do. I-I went to check on Jaesoon to see if he was ok since he wasn't up yet. He's usually an early riser and makes breakfast, but he's not- I don't know what to do- I mean I know what to do, but I don't know how to do it. God, I'm sorry. I-"

"Soli, Soli, honey. Slow down. One sec." Daejin was running on only a couple hours of sleep and his cell phone ringing had woken him. Normally he preferred coffee to get himself moving in the morning, but for the second day in a row he needed awareness fast and downed another alertness potion. 

He let out a weary sigh as he waited for the magical liquid to key up his body. "Ok. So. Grandpa is dead isn't he?"

"Well- yeah, how did you-"

"Love, I could hear it in your voice. Yesterday could have set off a chain reaction in his system that caused some kind of failure, right?"

"Yeah, the triage spell says heart attack in his sleep. He didn't feel it."

"That's all you have to say. There's no way to get around telling Gee Gee. You should probably tell them both at the same time. Like ripping off a band aid. I'll come over as soon as I can and I'll call the coroner on the way."

"Daejin, I don't know if I can do this by myself."

"Ok, follow me step by step. Step one, go to Jaesoon's door. Step two, twist the door handle and pull the door open. Step three, step out of the room. Step four,-"

"Now is not the time to be mocking your wife." She said threateningly. 

"Ok, ok. Where is Hakyeon right now?" He said with a faint smirk.

"Still sleeping I think."

"And Gee Gee?"

"Probably the same."

"Get Hakyeon and tell him to go set the table for breakfast. Tell him it's a cereal morning. Then go drag Gee Gee out of bed, tell her you need to have a talk with her. Tell her you will drag her down stairs by the hair if you have to."

"Ha ha. Very funny. I don't have a death wish, smartass."

"You'll have to hold on really tightly then. Just don't think before you say what the spell said. Get that far and call me if I'm not there yet and you need help. Ok?"

"I hate you so much right now."

Daejin could hear the grumpiness in his wife's voice from his intentionally patronizing instructions. She didn't actually need instruction, she just needed his voice and annoying her would redirect some of her emotional energy enough to not freeze up. "I love you too. I'll be there soon." He set aside the phone and traded looks with the groggy dragon. He seemed to understand that it was going to be another bad day for his humans.

. . .

Hakyeon was suspicious, but didn't ask questions. Soli finally found Gee Gee sitting in her work room, stonily looking at the thin white beam of light transecting the map over their house. It was more like zoned out really.

"Gee Gee?" Soli called softly and gently shuffled up to the old witch.

"Don't worry about me, dear. Do you want to tell Hakyeon or should I?" And speaking of-

"Mom, I got everything out. Should I go get grandpa Jaesoon?"

"Both of us?" The old woman patted the younger woman's shoulder. She herded the confused boy and his antsy mother across the great hall to the sitting room. 

"Hakyeon I have something to tell you. I don't know if Grandpa Jaesoon ever told you this, but for most of his life he worked as a curse breaker. He retired when a particular nasty curse rebounded on him. He had to take it easy after that, too much stress would crack the counter curse spell I used when I patched him up. The spell kept what's called the golden monkey fist sitting around his heart from squeezing it and stopping his heart. My spell has been wearing out for a while. I'm actually surprised it held up this long. I thought he would only have five years and that was back in the 80's. Maybe it was all the sugar that boy ate. Yesterday…that sudden wave of stress was too much for my counter spell. It cracked and collapsed last night while he was sleeping and the monkey fist did…what it was intended to do."

To say that Hakyeon was alarmed was a gross understatement. 

"He didn't feel it honey. It was quick."

"…is he ok?"

"Sweetheart…it killed him. He died." Soli explained with apprehensive concern.

"No, I mean I know, but is he ok?" The two adults traded confused looks wondering what kind of weird brand of denial this was.

"Hakyeon, he's dead. As in not alive anymore. Not coming back." Gee Gee restated.

"Yeah, no I get that! But is he-…ugh. Never mind. You guys don't get it." Hakyeon huffed.

"I want to get it though, baby. Do you want to think about how to explain it while we have breakfast?" He trudged off leaving the two adults staring after him, frozen in bafflement. 

"Is wrong for me to say I'm glad I won't be there for his hormonal, moody teen years?" Gee Gee deadpanned.

"Is it wrong of me to say I'm glad you won't be there either?" Soli said with a cracked smile. This was a pretty surreal conversation, especially when Gee Gee only snickered in amusement. 

"That's certainly something I wanted to tell my elders when they started messing with my kids. I don't blame you….well why don't you go eat and see to Hakyeon and I'll call the coroner's office. They're probably open by now."

"You come eat too. Daejin said he would do it on his way over."

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not particularly hungry. I guess I'll start on phone calls."

"Gee Gee, don't make me drag you by your hair to the breakfast table. I think that would be pretty scaring for my son. Eat or you will freak him out. There's plenty of time to do the other stuff."

Gee Gee's eye brow arched as a narrowed glare, the one that generally silenced any unruly family members. There was a stare off until interrupted by a knock on the door and Daejin walking in with Sanghyuk uncooperatively tugging at his leash. "Go, I'll be in my workroom when the coroner arrives." She informed her in a low voice. 

"I would ask what I missed, but something tells me I don't really want to know." Daejin remarked as he watched the women depart from the sitting room in a huff.

"It's nothing. But maybe you can figure out what Hakyeon is trying to say." They made their way into the kitchen where Hakyeon was blankly chewing on cereal.

"Hi Dad. Grandpa Jaesoon died last night." The boy said over a mouthful of breakfast. 

Daejin paused to in his path. Well…that was one way to inform a person. 

"Yeah…I heard. How are you feeling bud?"

"Annoyed." Soli gave her husband a 'see what I mean' look over Hakyeon's shoulder.

"Annoyed…how come?" He prodded his son.

"I know he's dead, but no one will tell me if he's ok. Oh, and if Jaehwan's mom is ok too."

"Ok in what way?" Daejin asked feeling just as confused.

"The spirit world thing! I don't know how that all works. What's happening on that side? What does everyone think I'm talking about?"

Soli looked sheepish. "Oh…sweetheart…I-…nobody knows how it works for certain."

"Seriously? Ugh, whatever. At least tell me if they're ghosts we have to send on or if that just happens automatically. Because I don't do ghosts."

"Don't do ghosts…" Daejin echoed quietly. Was he speaking with a changeling?

"Dad! Are we going to get haunted by grandpa Jaesoon and Mrs. Li or not?" Hakyeon whined.

"No, sweetheart. They've both moved on. We won't get haunted by anyone. They are ok." Daejin tried to assure the wound up little boy.

"How do you know?" He asked petulantly. 

"Only certain types of people turn into ghosts. Ones that have some kind of unfinished business, and I mean like big business. Like that girl trying to catch her murderer. Neither of them had that kind of thing, so you can relax. Also I know this is all really upsetting, but it's no one's fault. You need to stop snapping at people. They are sad too. Snapping will make them feel even worse."

"What? Because I'm not allowed to turn out cold like you?"

Daejin closed his eyes and with a slow deep inhale rubbed at his face. On his exhale he gave the bratty boy an 'oh really now?' look.

"Hakyeon! That is not acceptable. You apologize right now!" Soli shouted.

"Soli, shu, shu, shu. Calm down dear. Hakyeon. You need to go to your room." Daejin said in a flat quiet tone. "I don't want you to come down until you make a list of everyone who is feeling sad and upset with what's happened lately. I want you to write out what you are feeling. Then tear that up. Write a new version and do that five times until you can talk to people politely again. Now, go on." Hakyeon looked like he was on the verge of angry tears and ran away.

"Soli love, I've got to go check on Jaehwan. Something tells me he's just woken up and he's very, VERY cranky. I'm going to go give him a power suppressant. The coroner will be here any minute and after they have everything squared away, if I'm not back yet check on Hakyeon. He'll probably chill out once Jaehwan gets the suppressant. Everyone is getting easily irritable right now." He looked like he was going to continue telling her what to do, but thought better of it, shaking his head as turned to leave. 

"Hey, if you've got something to say then say it!" She spat. 

He had wanted to say something like don't pick any fights or you need to cool it too, but it wasn't what he actually wanted to say. He loathed emotions, but he loved his wife. Maybe he was a tad on the frosty side, but thankfully love is not an emotion. "I love you. I'll be back soon." He settled on and coaxed Sanghyuk to follow after him. He was busy trying to snatch pieces of stray cereal on the floor and was quite disgruntled about being dragged away from his find. Daejin rolled his eyes and picked up a handful to drop pieces at intervals that would get the dragon to his truck. "Come on grumpy." He chided and set the rest of the treats on the passenger side floor before tucking the dragon's tail out of the door's swing. He thought better of taking the dragon in with him when he heard arguing coming from inside the boy's house.

He opted to just walk right into their living room and grabbed the eldest boy, the thirteen year old, as he was lighter than his heavy set dad, and separated them. "Enough, enough! You sit at the table and you the couch and wait until I get back. Calm down. Where is Jaehwan?" The worn out father just pointed down the hall toward the youngest's room. 

"Jae, hey bud. How's it going?" He asked softly and slipped through the door into the messy room.

"GO AWAY!!" He shrieked.

"I will if you want me to, but first I need you to take this. It will keep people from picking up your mood. They are getting in fights over silly things right now."

"I don't care. That's their problem."

"It is yes, they should control themselves, but you know how people are. Drink up."

"Screw you." The boy said darkly. Mr. Cha's temper involuntarily flared as the boy's did. This had to stop now. They didn't have time for this. He quickly wrapped up Jaehwan's limbs and dumped the liquid into his mouth, holding his mouth and nose shut until he swallowed. The adult then backed away breathing hard. "I'm sorry Jae. I'm so sorry." He whispered, feeling ashamed for treating the boy so roughly. He slumped against his closet doors and sunk to the floor. Jaehwan was busy catching his own breath and after a few minutes commented "I don't feel any different."

"You won't, no. Everyone else will. It's the same stuff we give Hongbin during the spring when plants are growing like crazy and they try to take him. It wouldn't be healthy for me to shut off your emotions, as much as it sucks to go through it."

"How would you know? Your freaking family will live for, like, ever!"

Daejin hesitated, feeling conflicted. Jaesoon wasn't the only person he had ever lost. There had even been people who were still in their prime, so he did know. So what should he tell the boy? It's not like he could keep him from finding out about Jaesoon soon anyway. Better he do it in a way where he could talk him through it. 

"No, not grandpa Jaesoon. He died in his sleep last night. He didn't feel any pain." 

"I did that?"

"No, no, Jaehwan, Listen. It's not your fault. He already had a weak heart. He was already dying." Daejin said as he moved to sit at the little boy's side on the edge of his bed. "That wasn't you. I'm just saying I know. I'm just trying to give you some perspective. You aren't alone. Please, don't think you are alone. We do understand. Your brothers, your dad, Me, Mrs. Cha and now Hakyeon. Though I will say he's handling it a little weird, so maybe cross him off your list for now. Come here. We're here for you." 

He gently pulled his distressed student in for a hug and now sitting along his own sorrow and weariness he felt Jaehwan's overwhelming pain again though this time only dully. He picked him up and quietly drifted to the middle brother's room, taking his hand and leading him to the living room where the oldest brother and the father were hugging and crying together. He handed the small boy off to Yunchul and instantly felt lighter. Enough so that he let the family huddle together and he went off to find the list he had given his friend the night before and began to work on it. 

He talked to a funeral director to set up funeral service times for both of the deceased, he contacted almost everyone who showed up in Shion's cell phone recent call log. Being patient while allowing people to react to the news was aggravating and he needed to stop after a while and moved on to making them, by this time in the day, lunch. He only stayed to make sure they ate it before making his way back to his truck. Somehow Sanghyuk had managed to shred the floor mat on the passenger side. 

"Feel better now?" He asked blandly. The dragon casually blinked at him as if he hadn't done anything wrong and his way to pass the time in the truck was completely normal. Daejin didn't have the energy to care. "Let's go take care of hurricane Cha, now." He mumbled. 

He returned to everyone acting in a much more normal mourning fashion instead of being riled up. Gee Gee was efficient and already had many of the calls and details taken care of and had gone back to bed. The family blankly lounged around in the sitting room, letting the events of the last twenty four hours sink in. They were too sapped of energy to do much beyond putting a do not disturb note on the front door. 

. . .


	11. Watchful

"Geez, why do people talk so much? They have to know we're all freezing our butts off out here." Hongbin murmured. 

The boys huddled together around Jaehwan to keep him warm as he sat leaning against the back of a crumbling head stone. The direct sunlight wasn't doing much to help, but Hakyeon returned with Hyuk who was the ultimate heater, always running hot. He deposited the little dragon on the blank looking boy's lap. Hyuk stood on his hide legs, pawing at the boy's chin in concern and making small bleating whines. Jaehwan didn't really react though, so Hyuk took it upon himself to make a reaction. He deemed it necessary to lunge up and bite the boy's jaw then nonchalantly sat back on his haunches with a short creak that seemed to mean something like 'Hi, pay attention to me.' 

Jaehwan didn't seem to notice he was bleeding. Instead, with a frail smirk, he firmly booped Hyuk on the nose so he fell backward and then started to tickle and rough house with the cheeky little creature. The rest of the boys were a clamor of fussing, with Wonshik holding a tissue to Jaehwan's face and Hakyeon calling out "Bad Hyuk! Jaehwan stop encouraging him. You'll get bloody fingers. Again!" 

"That's fine." He stated as he played with the dragon attentively. He might get hurt, but it was better than thinking, or well…not thinking. 

Hongbin seized the leash and firmly commanded that Hyuk stop. Both glared at Hongbin once he had them adequately interrupted. "No it's not ok. No Hyukkie, biting is not nice."

"It's just nipping, not biting. It doesn't actually hurt." Jaehwan defended. Taekwoon was holding tissues to cuts on the empath's hands. 

"You're bleeding, so that means it's time to stop. Hongbin don't try to-…pick him up." Taekwoon warned a second too late.

The chloromancer yelped and dropped the leash. Hyuk almost took off, but Hakyeon stepped on the end of the tungsten chain. Hyuk made upset little growls as he attacked the chain and rolled on the ground in protest. Jaehwan scoffed at their fussing and called the disgruntled reptile over. He zipped over to the mourning boy's lap to curl up with his chin resting on the boy's knee and hissed at the other children. It occurred to Jaehwan that the reptile looked like a possessive feline and over the last few months had filled in enough to look like roughly the size of a large but skinny house cat. It made him snort a laugh. Hyuk accepted petting from Jaehwan as he glared at the boys for trying to interfere with his efforts to help the second grader stay mentally present. 

Hakyeon scowled. "Don't be dumb just because you're sad. Come on Hongbin, let's go get you guys band-aids. If you have any more holes in you when I come back I'll…add more. Yeah. Add more! so chill out." He threatened as best he could before leading Hongbin away by the hand. Hakyeon's mom always carried band-aids in her purse as the little dragon could get carried away easily. Hongbin could be heard sassing Hakyeon as they crossed the grave yard to the crowd of funeral goers. "It's winter. I want to warm up, not chill. I'm tired of being outside! It's boring and sad here. AND cold!!" His loud complaints receded in the distance. 

Taekwoon shifted into a newfoundland and huffed as he curled up next to Jaehwan on the opposite side of Sanghyuk's teeth. Jaehwan frowned, but didn't push him away. "You guys are still buttheads." 

Wonshik took his other side and held his palm out low to ask for Hyuk's permission to sit closer. He seemed almost snooty when he flicked his tongue over it to grant his approach. "Didn't mean to be. Just didn't want things to go wrong." Wonshik moped timidly. 

"Like how?" Jaehwan sneered.

"We could'a gotten in trouble for not controlling Hyukkie for one. And if he got loose just now it would freak out a lot of people. He could'a escaped and got hurt." Wonshik listed off.

"Did you actually see that?"

"I'm just saying is all, Jaehwannie. I'm sorry about making you mad." Hurt, Wonshik kept his eyes focused on the grass and tugged at the crispy strands. 

"And what about you?" Jaehwan questioned Taekwoon. The dog rolled more up right and nipped at his hand. "Ow!" Jaehwan yelped. Taekwoon rolled his eyes and let out a huff as he laid his head on his forepaws, blandly glaring as if to say he asked for it.

"That hurt. Next time use your big kid words." Jaehwan pouted. Taekwoon didn't seem to care, if his yawn was any indication. 

"Hey guys! They're saying it's time to go! Come back over!" Hongbin called to them. 

"Freaking finally." Taekwoon mumbled as he set off on a trot back to the line of cars.

"We'll wrestle later." Jaehwan whispered to Hyuk as he set him on the ground. Wonshik let out a long suffering sigh, before moving to Jaehwan's non-leash holding side to hold his land. At first Jaehwan let out a whiney groan, but after Wonshik gave him puppy dog eyes he put up with the younger being clingy. 

He paused as they walked past the area where his mom's coffin lay, ready to be put in the ground. Or everyone else seemed to be ready anyway. Not that he could do anything about it. Not that he should. Her spirit wasn't in that box. But the sight still made him feel a weird mix of frozen, jittery and nauseous. Hakyeon quietly started putting band-aids on him as he stared off. Wonshik gently pulled the leash out of his hands and lead Hyuk to stand back so he wasn't under foot. He was still watchful over the boy, but went back to attacking the controlling attachment. Jaehwan didn't realize he was crying again until Hakyeon wiped at his tears and pulled his head to his shoulder. The eight year old went mostly limp and whispered "I want to go home now." He staggered a lot, but Hakyeon managed to piggy back him to the  
Li family's van. Once belted into a seat he made grabby hands for Sanghyuk who leapt up to him before the others could intervene. Hakyeon looked uncertain about how to extract the reptile with causing a massive fight. Jaehwan's father walked up to the van just then.

"Hey boys time to go find your parents. We'll see you tomorrow ok?" Yunchul told them. 

"Mr. Li" Hakyeon whispered and wordlessly pointed at the dragon getting settled on his son's lap. 

"Oh…." The two traded glances and Jaehwan pointedly ignored them. "Go get your dad." Yunchul whispered to Hakyeon before shoo-ing all of them off. Curious about the deceptively docile creature he slowly stepped forward and holding his palm out for Hyuk to sniff. Jaehwan's brothers took seats on the passenger side of the van and warily examined the mythical creature. 

"Boys hold your hands out flat like this to let him sniff you." Hyuk did, but didn't seem to take any more interest in them after that, being as he was ready for a nap.

"Dad…I can do it. Take care of Sanghyuk I mean. Can't we keep him for the night?" Yunchul's face remained neutral as he lightly pet the dragon. His lack of a decision should have made things tense, but it was actually momentarily calming. It took a while before Daejin turned up. He stood next to Yunchul with his hands in his pockets and waiting for someone to speak. 

When no one did he started. "Jae, a few days ago he chewed the floor mat in my truck to shreds. He chews on everything, including little fingers." The adult picked up one of Jaehwan's hands and wiggled it. "And I've seen your room. Lots of toys he would like to wreck. You would almost have to completely clean out your bathroom, shampoo bottles, shower curtain, rugs, whatever you keep under the sink, and so on. Even then you would probably need to sleep in your bathtub with the door locked just to have any peace of mind about Hyuk proofing while you sleep, at least while he can't breathe fire anyway. It's a REALLY big commitment to take him for even a short amount of time. You have to watch him constantly."

Jaehwan looked apprehensive, but insisted "Ok. I can do that." Daejin touched Yunchul's elbow to lead him away to speak privately. Upon returning Yunchul announced "I'll let you have him over for the night, but there are some conditions. First, your brothers have to agree to help you. Second you take EVERYTHING out of your guys' bathroom. And third you all clean both bathrooms until they're spotless and box up any of Mom's girly bathroom stuff…Deal?"

Jaehwan looked at his brothers pleadingly and the older negotiated with Yunchul until they felt content with their involvement. "Alright, see you guys tomorrow." Daejin said solemnly before shuffling off to his own car. 

. . .

It took the whole afternoon, but that was probably the cleanest either room had been in a long time. Jaehwan made a nest of blankets and pillows in their bathtub and Hyuk seemed content with the situation though he wanted to sniff at everything and explore. He liked the cabinet under the sink and played 'defend the cave' with Jaehwan who would try to reach for him and tickle him in his new hide out. After taking a break from rough housing with Hyuk to go look for more band-aids, Jaehwan's father gave him some thick gardening gloves to wear in hopes of mitigating how slashed up his son was getting. After dinner the boy, the dragon and their golden retriever played in the living room while the others half paid attention to the tv. Yunchul didn't think he could handle the full time raising of the destructive yet endearing dragon, but it was a nice distraction. The boys didn't seem to realize that while they were working Yunchul had put away all of the Christmas stuff they had out, even though the holiday was still days away. He'd rather skip it than have them associate Christmas with their mother's death. 

. . .

The atmosphere in the great hall was much lighter compared to the oppressive one of the nippy graveyard from the day before. However it was sour over a small group of Hakyeon's distant cousins as they conspicuously murmured to each other in the middle of the room.

"How cruel hearted can you get? Look she won't even cry at her own son's memorial service." 

"I don't think she even paid attention. Besides she treated him more like a servant than a son. I don't know what possessed Jaesoon to move back to the house with her. He was so friendly and she was always such a cranky monster."

"I bet she had him chopped up for parts before they cremated him. I heard the il clan used to do something like that for really creep spell casting. Who's to say those are his ashes in that urn?"

"That's morbid. If she does have his body or organs or whatever lying around where do you think she would stash them?"

"Gross. Basement maybe?"

Their voices carried more than they realized and Hakyeon's scowl had been deepening the longer they continued. He shoved them as roughly as he could when he walked in between them to get to Gee Gee's side for a hug. She didn't tear her eyes away from the window, but with subtle warmth she reciprocated and sifted her fingers through the boy's hair. In a husky whisper she said. "Ignore them. They're idiots who are just mad they won't be inheriting anything. Want to learn a spell?" Hakyeon looked up at her with curiosity. "Think about the bottoms of their feet and repeat after me." It wasn't long until one of them yelped as they lost their balance and their feet stayed planted. 

"Shush, don't look." Gee Gee snickered. She said the word to release the spell and the teacher and student fell still for a while concealing their amusement. She lowered her volume even further "Hakyeon, I do need to say that while they are pretty misinformed about il funeral traditions some of what they said is true. Those aren't his ashes. I have the real ones stashed away in the basement because we need to do some spell work tonight to keep them safe. The reason we need to do it is because there are those who believe they can attain immortal life by consuming the remains of a powerful witch, even just ashes. You don't actually get immortal life, but there are still some rather unsettling things they can do. Our people don't know it, nor should they ever, but if the person had even just a little bit of magic I swap out the ashes with mix of fireplace ash and sand. I'll want you to do this anytime a witch dies, including me when it's my time. I'll haunt your skinny butt if you don't." She told him with a smirk. He stuck his tongue out at her in teasing rebellion.

"I hold grudges, you better behave well if you don't want to be haunted." She teased.

"Meannie" Hakyeon murmured.

"In all seriousness though whenever a witch or magical being dies I want you to be on guard. Grandpa Jaesoon was really powerful and those that have a lust for power would be all over this. Now that news is out we have to stay watchful, even with our relatives unfortunately. Some know too much for their own good."

. . .

As they had been quietly murmuring to one another, Xiumin approached the gossipy cousins to help the one on the ground up. "She almost doesn't look evil when she's talking to kids, huh? I can say, as one who has lived for over four hundred years, you have to make peace with the fact that you'll probably out live your kids if you are a spell holder. She realized that fully after Miah. Jaesoon was living on borrowed time anyway. She knew she could wake up on any day and he might not wake up as well. She's not crying because she's grateful she got that much extra time with him. So be more careful with your slander, because those little ears heard you and that future leader isn't going to forget it." 

The little group gaped at the youthful being telling them off and one woman whined. "Four hundred? You look like you're fourteen. Who the hell do you think you are anyway?"

"As per Jaesoon's request I'll be taking over in assisting Gee Gee and then on down the line Hakyeon. Hakyeon especially. If you thought Gee Gee was a monster you'll wish you had her back if you have to deal with me. Do yourselves a favor and don't go hiking." Xiumin gave the woman a bright eyed smile, patted her shoulder and meandered off. He smirked when he heard her scoff and loudly complain about the small, sharp thistle vine he let grow into the weave of her knit sweater. He stopped short from running into a small boy.

"Was it you that made that plant thing grow just now?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is your skin like that?"

"I'm a miliae. Have you heard of a dryad? No, ok. So I'm basically like a tree spirit."

"Oh…I'm a chloromancer. Hongbin." Hongbin stated and held his hand out for a hand shake. That's what he was supposed to do during introductions right? Xiumin snorted a laugh and shook his hands with the serious little boy, exchanging his name as well.

"So how old are you Hongbin?" He asked the child who seemed to want his attention.

"I'm seven…-I'm still learning how to control my magic. Can you un-grow plants? I'm having a hard time doing it."

"I can wilt it and kill it. I can't un-grow it back into dormancy like you can. I bet you can do all kinds of stuff with plants huh?"

Hongbin snorted a scoff. "Only barely. I can't get them to leave me alone. They try to kidnap me. Mrs. Cha said that plants love me so much they want to hug me and they over-do it. Like Hakyeon, but not senta-…senti-al-ent…sentiel-lent?…able to think and hurtable like Hakyeon."

"Ah. So I take it the wild violets weren't on purpose then?" Hongbin tipped his head to the side in confusion before madly trying to ruffle them out of his hair.

"Easy, easy. Here, I'll help." Xiumin snorted.

"They're usually little white morning glories." Hongbin muttered petulantly. 

"What would you rather have?" Xiumin asked.

"Nothing" He replied sharply.

"You're like a seed and spore magnet huh?"

"Yeah. I hate it. The other kids are calling me a flower princess. Wonshik says he saw that I'll eventually be able to control type, but I have no idea how to do that."

"Oh, I've actually seen it before. I can't do it since I can only trigger acceleration or deceleration on what a plant would naturally do. I can do a little bit with direction, but that's it. But chloromancers have greater control over a wider range of plant properties. I bet you can do this. Here." Xiumin picked up one of the stray violets with still intact roots. "It's best to start small. I'm told it's not necessarily that it would be full transformation. More like redirection on a micro level. The seeds it would give off would still be those of the original plant. So I guess what you would do is grow isolated parts of the plant. Like maybe a tiny bit more on this petal so it's really pointy. You would pull the energy from the sides of the petal during the growth and center it in a narrow line. At least that's what I was told. Want to give it a try?"

Hongbin worked on the small plant with determination. "The rest of it keeps growing too."

"That's ok. Don't worry about the rest of the plant, you can let it do its thing while you focus on that one petal."

"m'kay." He worked to feed the growth energy the way the miliea instructed him to and after a few attempts he had a petal with a long crisp point. "Hey! I did it! I did it!" Hongbin shouted with excitement. Xiumin gave him a high five and cheered him on. "You should go show Mrs. Cha. She would think that's pretty cool."

"Yeah! -oh wait. What about color?"

"hm, it's just a guess, but you can control water flow while you're doing this can't you? You could try pulling certain pigments with the water, so concentrate it in the spots you want that bit of water to go through. Have you ever seen it where they put food coloring in water to change the color of white flowers? I think it's like that. Or maybe draw the water out of one flower to flow through the roots and up to the petals. Grab that yellow daisy that's on the floor." Xiumin held the violet's roots to the center of the yellow flower clipping so that Hongbin could focus on the draw. As he grew the plant again brown hues streaked through the purples.

"Wait? Why is it brown?"

"Oh, right. Complimentary colors make brown when they mix. We'll need a lot of yellow. Keep going."

Finally one streak turned fully yellow as the daisy became bruised and wilted from the draining. "Hey, there you go!" Xiumin cheered. Hongbin beamed and Xiumin sent him off to his teacher. "Mrs. Cha!! Mrs. Cha!! Look what Mr. Xiumin showed me how to do!" He yelled while interrupting whatever conversation she was in.

The plant was a bit ugly with odd brown, purple and yellow streaks and mismatch shaped petals. "Wow…this is something else huh?" She remarked with some confusion. What was this thing?

"Oh! Wait." Hongbin ran his fingers through his hair to coax another violet bud out. "It started out like this." He explained. Her eyes went wide. "Woah! Good job Binnie. That's amazing!" He beamed bashfully as he tried to contain his giddy excitement. "I want a picture of you with it!" She exclaimed while she tapped on her phone to pull up the camera function. Hongbin wore a big smile as he held up the messy plant. Mrs. Cha mentioned that he could snag some of the funeral flowers to practice with and he was off with a look of determination. "Mrs. Cha! Assigning homework at a funeral! What a disturbing thing to do." Grandma Seo teased in pure sarcasm before resuming what they were talking about.

. . .

Jaehwan, Taekwoon and Wonshik were sitting on Gee Gee's map waiting for the other two boys to return, this time sans Hyuk who was in his room back at Soli and Daejin's house, making short work of a left over ham bone. 

"How many people do we have to send before the rest of us get cookies?" Taekwoon grumbled in his hamster form, taking advantage of not having a predator present.

"They're starting to get more distractible than me, and I can't focus worth crap." Jaehwan grumbled as well. 

Wonshik let out a long sigh. "I'll go get some. Those two are lost causes. If I'm not back in five I need rescuing." He relayed before scuttling out of the workroom. 

It was quiet between the two boys for a while before Jaehwan muttered. "If you could be only one animal for the rest of your life what would it be?" Taekwoon shifted to a cat as his answer and plopped into the boy's lap. 

"Since we don't have to go to school for the next three weeks are you going to be an animal the whole time?"

"I wish. My mom would freak out. I already get in trouble for falling asleep as an animal all the time. If she had it her way I wouldn't have this power." The cat glowered off into the distance.

"I think I would be a pterodactyl."

"Extinct. Can't do extinct."

"It's not going to really happen so it doesn't matter."

"True"

They fell silent as Jaehwan scratched behind Taekwoon's ears and he began purring. It was a comfortable silence followed by Wonshik, Hakyeon and Hongbin sprinting into the room with the cremation urn and slamming the doors shut.

"What the heck?!" The two yelped. 

"Yeah, what the heck Wonshik?" Hakyeon asked with a face furrowed in confusion. "Why did we steal this?"

"So the bad guy can't use it to suck people into it."

"……"

"….."

"….."

"…."

"WONSHIK SERIOUSLY!!!" Hakyeon finally bellowed before Wonshik was putting his hand over the elder's mouth. 

"No time to explain, get in the chimney."

"You aren't getting out of this by trying to use a meme." Hongbin told him blandly.

Wonshik swayed a little. "Ach! They're here! Hurry." He looked pale and scared. 

Taekwoon turned into a spider monkey, shrugged and took the urn with him up the chimney. Jaehwan had followed him and asked "Can we even fit in there?" Wonshik just scoffed and started climbing up the rock, disappearing from view.

Hakyeon groaned. "I am so dead. Ok, come on, let's go." Hongbin piled in next, then Jaehwan. Hakyeon had just gotten his legs out of sight when the work room doors opened. 

. . .


	12. Vessel

Hakyeon had just gotten his legs out of sight when the work room doors opened. 

"Much better. Now, Mr. Gupta how may I assist you?" Gee Gee queried as she closed the doors behind what sounded like a small group of people. "You said you needed to retrieve something from my son? Correct?"

An unfamiliar man spoke in a heavy accent "Ah, yes. It's called the golden monkey fist. It is a piece of a protective statue in our temple, it guards some of our most prized possessions. It's really important to my people. I believe it attached itself to him. It's fist must have closed all the way shut a few days ago because it has returned to its immobilized state. We've finally been able to reenter the temple after all of these years. We would like the fist back so that we can reset our guard statue to be at the ready should anyone try to steal from us again. With it back we can resume life at the temple.

"Of course. I presume you have a way to look for it being as you are here?" 

"Well we have a compass with statue fragments to lead us, would you mind showing us around and perhaps we can use it to bring us right to it."

"We can definitely try. Would you be willing to wait until the wake is over? My guests generally won't stay any longer than they have to."

"Oh! Of course. Pardon me, I did not mean to rush you."

"That's alright. I don't get out of the valley often. What type of temple is it you're from?"

"Ah, yes, it's a temple devoted to Hanuman, the great monkey king deity. We house special Vedic scrolls with some very powerful spells given to us by Hanuman himself. It's priceless and in the wrong hands very dangerous."

"I imagine. I always told him not to mess with things relating to immortals, but who even listens to their mother? I'm glad such power has been kept safe. I would have marched him right back there by the ear if I found out he did take it."

"That is a very big comfort madam. Speaking of comfort would you mind terribly if we lit a fire in your fireplace? My associates and I are unused to such low temperatures."

"Oh, I'm afraid not. I have some spell work in here that fire would tamper with. I do very delicate work with paper charms and in an unset state they are very sensitive. Shall we move to the sitting room? I believe there is a fire already going in there." The foreigners left the room behind Gee Gee and the doors were closed again.

"Ok Wonshik, now what?" Hongbin whispered.

"We wait….for two hours." The younger informed them sheepishly.

"Are you serious? Why did all of us have to get stuck in here?" Jaehwan grumbled.

"I didn't have time to think about that, ok?! Besides now we're covered in ashes. If we try to leave right now they'll follow our footsteps." Wonshik reasoned.

"Ok, what? We stay here and they just leave? They want this monkey fist thing. What are we supposed to do with it?" Hakyeon tried to work it out.

"Keep it I guess?" Wonshik responded with a shrug.

"Where even is it?" Hakyeon continued.

"It's in the jar."

"WHAT? Gee Gee said those aren't his real ashes." Hakyeon whisper yelled.

"Well, all I know is that the monkey fist is rattling around in here. Something about making it look like they really are his ashes. They would have made one of your cousins open it, they would'a gotten sucked in and then they would'a grabbed the fist when Gee Gee had to dump the person out. There would have been a big fight with people dying if they had done that." 

"Yeah but two hours? What about when we're supposed to go home?" Taekwoon asked.

"Look, it's hang out in here for two hours or go home and start a fight where people die."

"What makes you think they'll just leave without this thing?" Hakyeon snarked. 

"Dunno, they just do. Now everyone shut up, we need to be quiet."

"How the hell do you expect me to stay quiet for so long?" Jaehwan hissed.

"Oh, suck it up! This sounds serious." Hongbin scolded. The boys fell silent, only shifting their feet on their rocky foot holds every now and again.

"How much longer?" Jaehwan asked when he couldn't take it anymore."

"Jae, it's only been five minutes." Wonshik informed him dryly. 

"Do something like count how many cartoon characters you can think of inside your head. That's what my sister tells me to do when I complain about being in the car too long." Taekwoon suggested. It worked for a while, after all there were a LOT of Pokémon to remember. All of them were lost to their thoughts for a while, but all of them itched to leave the chimney and go home. 

Jaehwan fidgeted the worse it got for him. He was going to burst if he didn't get to go home soon. He started thinking of food and that didn't help. He wanted his mom's cooking. He wanted his mom. He wanted to snuggle with her and force her to watch anime with him. Heck he would even watch whatever she wanted to watch. He wanted to be clean and sitting comfy and warm. None of it felt real. It still felt like he had just missed her when he stepped into a room, maybe seconds too late to catch sight of her. What were they going to do without her? His dad was a terrible cook. His brothers were going to lose all of their stuff and no one will be able to find it. Who was going to feed the dog from then on? And make him clean his room? And fix the rips in his clothes? And make him a birthday cake? And take care of him when he's sick? And…He started thinking about all of the things that he wouldn't get to do with his mom now. He thought of how his house would be different. To feel better he tried to think of what wouldn't change and that made him want to go home even more. 

He wasn't the only ones thinking of home. "You boys can come out now." Gee Gee called up to them. They piled out and she pulled Hakyeon over to have him practice the spell work for writing someone into the silence spell. 

After she turned to address the rest. "Jaehwan, you're really overdue for some suppressant, but that deep want to go to something familiar tricked them into leaving. They couldn't focus and were getting overwhelmed when their compass kept pointing toward you, but they only saw a wall. Good job boys." She ruffled Jaehwan and Wonshik soot coated hair and looked at her hands in disgust. "Now go take a shower. Get some of Hakyeon's clothes and throw yours down the laundry shoot. You're all filthy. Try not to touch anything. And if your parents ask you've all been taking a nap in Hakyeon's room and you're 'too cute' to wake up." She said dryly as she herded them toward the stairs then split off to clean the fake urn at the kitchen sink. As she dried it off her thoughts wandered as well, to the times when she had felt most at home. 

She dragged herself through chores, cleaning up after the guests, starting the laundry, getting Jaehwan some power suppressant and making the boys some dinner. She had the idea to use a spell to figure out what Jaehwan was craving.

Jaehwan cried from longing while chewing on the fried dumplings. 

. . .

Everyone else had gone home now and it was just the two witches working in solitude of the basement.

Gee Gee had explained as they gathered supplies. "With a certain spell and drinking the ashes mixed with enough water, bad guys could find out everything that Jaesoon knew. All of his curse breaker secrets, which need to be kept secret, would be found out and really bad things could happen with that information. Anyone trying to get that information needs to be stopped. These secrets are supposed to die with Jaesoon. Thankfully I think the knowledge of that spell is dying off. I don't think they knew it's possible."

"But what did those people from the Hona-mana-man's temple want? Wonshik said they were bad guys." Hakyeon asked as they readied the spell work. 

"Hanuman, he's a Hindu deity. I'm not entirely sure why they wanted the fist, but I know they weren't up to any good. They were lying about protecting some spell scrolls. There aren't any scrolls. Jaesoon was there to extract stolen goods from that place. Thieves with some pretty nasty reputations had taken over it to use the vault. They were taking precious items from people to rig curses to them via that sentimental bond with that object. The only way to break the curse was to retrieve and destroy those items. But they were stashed behind the monkey guard. 

Jaesoon was on a curse breaker team investigating the temple and they thought they had enough distance to observe without drawing the statue's attention, but it surprised them and grabbed straight at Jaesoon 's heart. There was a chi specialist on their team that locked up the chi in the statue to keep it from moving. They took everything out, broke the curses, found the actual border the monkey couldn't go past, chopped off its hand and the chi blocker helped get Jaesoon home so I could place a counter curse in the chi points she used to keep the fist open just enough for his heart to function. With the monkey awake at least no one could use the vault. With the monkey dormant the vault is useless. Put the monkey at the ready again and then the thieves can go back to their old tricks." She explained. 

"What would they have done if they monkey didn't surprise them?"

"Jaesoon said they had a pig they were going to use as a shield."

"Ew."

"Yup, ew. He was only supposed to be there to deal with the cursed items, but their translator was too stupid to get out of the way and Jaesoon went in to pull him out. Such is life."

"So…what do we do if the bad people come back? Wonshik said we took the vase thing so that they wouldn't make someone else open it and get sucked in and start a fight when they and the fist got dumped out."

"Well, they don't have the ability to come back…for starters I stole their compass. That's a very valuable tool to hang onto. And afterward with them still hopped up on Jaehwan's emotions they left for the hotel and I had a message delivered that said there was some kind of crisis back in India they need to resolve immediately. I wasn't sure if that would work or not, but I checked on the map a little while ago and it showed their rental car on the county map speeding back to the airport. There is a spell I used on their beads that would cause them to get lost in the mountains if they tried to come back. Remind me to teach you that later. If we don't have any other intruders to use it on soon, we'll have Xiumin charm a deer and use it on them. There's no harm in having a deer not know how to get to town." 

"The guys will be happy to hear that."

Gee Gee looked at him warmly. "We're lucky you have such loyal and powerful friends. You guys truly are a talented bunch." Hakyeon smiled bashfully at the praise. They both turned back to what they were working on. 

Or what Hakyeon was working on while Gee Gee gave him instruction. It was simple so far. They were mixing powdered rat poison with the ashes. They were essentially making the ashes too poisonous to ingest. Gee Gee said in a pinch you could extract the persons brain and mash and mix it with the cyanide as well. "Ok…now what?"

"We put all of that into this ceramic urn and seal it. Might as well throw the monkey fist in there too." She taught him how to use the fake urn to get the monkey's fist out and with everything ready she taught him how to seal the final urn. "Ok…now what?" Hakyeon repeated teasingly.

"No we put his final urn in the crypt over there with all of the others."

"The what?! Where?! What?! The what others?!" Hakyeon freaked out. 

"Goodness" Gee Gee rolled her eyes in exasperation at her under study's fear. "Hakyeon, get over it. There are hundreds of years' worth of magical remains in there."

"WHY?!?!?"

"Well we can't just spread the ashes because it's all mixed with an ingredient too toxic to just dump out somewhere where it can contaminate the ground water. Besides this seems safer and more dignified than throwing the ashes in a dumpster."

"There have been dead people under the house the whole time and nobody told me?!" 

"What did you think was in there?"

"I don't know…this is my first time coming down here. I was too scared to come alone. AND NOW I HAVE A REASON TO NEVER COME DOWN HERE AGAIN!!!" Hakyeon screeched in horror of the realization that hundreds of years' worth of human (and probably not human) remains were stored in a house he thought he was safe in. 

"STOP WITH THE MELODRAMA AND GO PUT THE URN IN THE CRYPT." Gee Gee commanded. Angry powerful witch or ghost dust…Hakyeon pouted, but scampered off to the room she pointed at. Gee Gee just shook her head as she cleaned up their supplies. She contemplated leaving to go upstairs without him realizing or shutting him in the thousands of tall narrow jars artfully stacked in shelves that resembled wine racks, but decided pranking him would just lead to a bigger headache. 

She wasn't fond of it either when the elders talked Yubin into including the crypt in the design of their home, but at the time they had been convinced it was their duty to guard the family secrets. Over the years she had thought about throw them away several times, but…like she had said. They were people. It didn't seem like a dignified thing to do. It worried her that Hakyeon might not honor their space. The pouty boy returned looking a little shaken, but upon see everything was tidy, bolted upstairs with the fuming old woman trailing after him. 

"Hakyeon!" She called after him. "One more thing, come to the workroom." She sat the enraged child down and took a softer tone. "I want you to tell you one more thing and then you can go to bed. When a person's spirit leaves their body, they have no more control over it anymore. They are at the mercy of the people around them and mother nature. Treat those remains well. They were people who would appreciate that they weren't treated flippantly and that the vessel they dwelt in while they were alive had its dignity left intact. The only thing that is constantly with you while you are alive is your body. I know it's morbid, but think about it from the dead spirit's perspective. Or how about this. Would you haunt someone who is respecting and honoring you? I suggest leaving the crypt be. But if you do decide to do away with it after I'm gone I can't stop you. Just please be considerate to those spirits, in case they still have a sentimental attachment to their old vessel. Can you handle that?"

Hakyeon had calmed as her tone remained calm and he nodded somberly, free of rage. "Alright, good night dear. You did well today. Time to rest." Hakyeon wordlessly hugged her and quickly scuffled off. Hakyeon might be a little melodramatic when it came to his fears, but there was a restfulness to being around the thoughtful and attentive child when he was calm. If Jaesoon were there with her he would be teasing her about how fond of Hakyeon she was and that she was getting soft. 'Brat' she thought to herself with serenity. She missed his presence, but this time she didn't feel despondent or pained over the most recent loss. 

. . .


	13. Fahmilee Vaycaychun

Sanghyuk was stretched out in a patch of sunlight feeling as disappointed and vacant as the rest of the silent cave. It had been exciting as the big creatures had rushed in between cave sections grabbing thing, putting them in cloth bawx-uz and babbling. He didn't have a cloth bawx (he had yet to even see those types of bawx-uz), but he put all his toys in his wood toy bawx and waited for his turn to be put in the rolling cave. He liked trips in the rolling cave because there were so many things outside of its see through parts to look at. Usually his big creatures brought him with them. He didn't like being left alone in the empty cave and if he could he would break things to let them know. It was too quiet and boring. He didn't even have the heart to pretend kill his new bawl. Whatever fun thing it was that they left in excitement to do, it wasn't something little dragons could do too. 

No matter what Hyuk always felt a little on the outside. Sure, usually he got plenty of attention, inclusion and affection, but his…(what to call them? He really needed to pick a name for his group of creatures…He didn't know it's exact definition, but the big creature word fah-mi-lee sounded right)... saw him as different. He wished they would treat him like the shorter big creatures, like his Hom-bin and the other shorter big things that came over almost every day. He always felt like there was something on the edge of his consciousness that would make that happen, but he could only catch snatches that faded away just as quickly. It was frustrating and when they floated out of his grasp he would go pout in his big circle hanging in the center of his portion of the cave (the big creatures called it a tired su-wing. Maybe it meant place to go when your wings get tired). After his naps he would feel better, especially if the sun would shine in on him through the see through square thing on the wall. When he was happy, he would play with his toys or call for his fah-mi-lee until someone came to play with him or let him out of his part of the cave.  
   
Of course he knew he was a little different from Fah-mi-lee. He was scaly and they were a smooth mix of pillow-y and hard lumps with patches of fur in certain places. They would wrap their whole bodies in weird blan-kuts that had a bunch of different names that he couldn't remember. Underneath of the blan-kuts were caramel tans and creamy whites compared to his dark navy-blue coloring. It took him a while to realize that they were flightless. They didn't have wings, and after observing all things in the air, it seemed like you needed to have something to flap about or catch wind with to make lift. They were too heavy for their long slim limbs to do that.  
   
Something that also seemed to affect their dynamic was that he was really small, and they were very big. He didn't like that they treated him like he was small. He was sure he was getting bigger if that see through bawx was any indicator. He hated that thing. It made him feel bad and squished. He was glad they got rid of it. And he didn't like being carried, but it seemed to make them happy so he would put up with it for a little while until he couldn't stop himself from wiggling. Another thing that made him feel small is that he didn't really understand their noises. Their chatter seemed to have meaning but it was really complicated. He was slowly learning the noises for different things, but he couldn't make their noises to show when he understood something and when he didn't.  
   
With Hom-bin things were easiest for some reason. He was just as complicated as everyone else, but he learned words easier when they came from his favorite big creature. He got the feeling that the more time they spent together the more he would naturally know what Hom-bin knew. If Hom-bin learned something while he was holding him, Sanghyuk learned it too in a way. He didn't know how to describe it in dragon and definitely not in the big creature language, but Hom-bin was special. He seemed to have a warm glow that instantly made Hyuk feel safe and loved. He wasn't bothered by being held by his Hom-bin.

Even though Hom-bin was his favorite, the other boys were interesting too. Wo-shi-kih made an effort to be gentle. He was always near Hom-bin and they would talk while petting him as he lay stretched out on Hom-bin's folded legs. Hyuk liked that he never tried to take him away or pick him up. It was probably because once he held him a little too strongly and Hyuk let out an angry little shriek and bit him. Now he kindly waits for Hyuk to sniff him and signal if petting is allowed or not. Whenever Wo-shi-kih takes a nap Hyuk would come over to lay down on top of him. That smaller big creature would get episodes of weird pain and tended to sleep it off. It seemed to make him happy if Hyuk stayed with him.

With Jae-an he never learned to stop picking Hyuk up. It happened regardless of whether they were play fighting or not. It was fairly often Jae-an would have to get a colorful thing put over Hyuk's teeth marks. He liked when they would play a noise game, just making random noises together. Usually Jae-an tries to sound like him, but sometimes he makes pretty sounds that everyone likes to listen to. When he finishes fah-mi-lee usually makes sound by smacking their hands together which makes Jae-an happy. Not really coordinated enough to do that, Hyuk gives him appraising creaks.

Taekoon can do the pretty sounds too, but he is much quieter. To Hyuk, Taekoon is the most confusing of all of them. He can't figure out what creature he is. Sometimes he looks like food, sometimes he looks like he could make Sanghyuk into food. Most of the time he is either the same creature as the rest of fah-mi-lee or something they call a khat. He turns into one that is just a little bigger than him and while Hyuk's teeth and claws are sharp he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of Taekwoon's equally sharp weapons. He had tried stalking him when he was a bur-dh and when he went to pounce he met of flurry of feathers to fur and a swat of claws to his head. It put a rather worrying trenches in his scales. But after that the khat relaxed and rubbed his jaw against the dragon with silky fur and licked at his scratch. He was intimidating when he tried to play wrestle. Hyuk always had to go hide with Hom-bin or the tall big creatures to make Taekoon stop.

The oldest shorter big thing, Ha-kyoh-nee, was around the cave the most out the shorter ones. This thing was also weird. Since he saw more of him he was able to come to the conclusion that this shorter big creature was very helpless. Not that Ha-kyoh-nee seemed to understand this. Early on Ha-kyoh-nee tried to offer him pieces of meat from someone else's catch. That meant that he hadn't learned how to hunt yet and permanently scavenging from others didn't seem right. It was something that should be fixed. He had tried to show Ha-kyoh-nee how to hunt, but he ran away and refused to watch. He didn't really understand how that one was going to survive. Maybe he wasn't very smart. Or maybe he was really smart to be able to convince other creatures to bring him food. Hyuk couldn't decide. But he did decide that this shorter big creature was ok since he would play fyh-ur with him. As long as he didn't try to pick him up too much Hyuk liked him. Sadly this one wouldn't learn his lesson either and got just as many colorful things on his fingers as Jae-an. 

Ha-kyoh-nee was the only hatchling that was from a brood Mah-hm and Dah-duh made. The female tall big creature was named Mah-hm and the male tall big creature's name was Dah-duh. They were really nice. Dah-duh always brought him live animals or took him out of the cave to hunt with him. Sort of. Hyuk did all the work, but he also got to eat everything he caught so it seemed fair. Hyuk liked leaving the cave with him because they would go new places all the time. He would even put up with the connector string they called a leee-shuh to go out. He had seen some other four-legged creatures with the connector on too, so it must be normal, at least for the ones that shared caves with them. It took a long time for the big things to catch on to the fact that he liked shiny things as treats, but when Hyuk did what Dah-duh wanted him to and was good while they were outside of the cave or in the rolling cave, he would give him little shiny hard circles (Koi-un-zuh) to carry back to his hiding spot.  
   
They had discovered this after Hyuk had taken a shiny string that he found on the cut-up tree flat thing where the big creatures ate. He had decided to hide it in his tired su-wing where he liked to take naps. He noticed later in the day that the tall female creature, Mah-hm, who he also liked very much (she seemed safe and loving like Hom-bin, she would bring him toys and she would play with him often), seemed very distressed. He thought maybe it would make her feel better if he shared his new shiny thing with her being as he didn't have a recently hunted carcasses with him in his part of the cave. He brought the thing and she looked both relieved, but mad. It was something called mai-moh-thurz-goldeh-ahm-yoo-lut. That was a long name and too hard to remember. Hyuk preferred shiny string, but the big creatures had a way with making things more complicated than need be.  
   
That day she tried to teach him the words Mai-nuh and nawtuh and yor-zuh. There were other cut up tree flat things in her portion of the cave where she kept shiny stuff. That spot was mai-nah-nawtuh-yorzuh. She got another shiny thing from the eating place again (he later learned it's called a spoo-nuh) and said yorzuh and gave it to the little dragon. She carried him to his portion of the cave and said yor-zuh. Hyuk had hopped up to his tired su-wing and placed it there. Mah-mh smiled and told him gud-boy. He liked when they said gud-boy or veh-ree-gud or gud-jawbuh. It meant he made them happy. They went through that process a few times until Mah-hm was confident her mai-nuh would be left alone. The take away seemed to be that yor-zuh was only his if it was given to him. He couldn't just take mai-nuh no matter where they leave it unless they leave it in his portion of the cave. Maybe. It was hard to tell. It seemed like they used words differently all the time.  
   
Surprisingly it was Ha-kyoh-nee that was the most consistent with words for him, not using too many at a time. What was very inconsistent was his mood. Happy, mad, sad. It changed easily. It wasn't that he was really mean, but he was probably the one that said baad-boi or baad-Hio-kee most often. Sometimes it was fun to be bad around Ha-kyoh-nee, because then he would chase him. But if he made the shorter big creature too mad, he would stomp off, so he had to be careful and do some good things too.  
   
Hah-kyoh-nee really liked the do-een-trihx game. He would give the little dragon lots of little circle shiny things when he got the right action with the right word. He was making the game more challenging and fun with more words, but it was harder to get the circles, having to do many words before getting them. If he made a new word he would give Hyuk more circles to learn it. 

It had started with the words kohm, si-tuh, lay-dun, stan-dup, stay, hee-ul, bah-kup, su-pin. The next round he added in boop (he would touch Hakyeon's fingertip with his nose) kih-suz (He had already been doing this to taste how things smelled, so kih-suz was a word for smelling things he figured) spee-kuh (the big creature seemed to be happy with any noise so that part was entertaining), Ku-why-it (Hyuk had a hard time remembering what that one meant) shae-kih (touch his front foot to Ha-Kyoh-nee's hand) pik-up (hold something) duh-rop (let go of the thing he's holding). Some of the newer ones were breen-it (bring the dumb big creature something he threw across the room) lee-vit (don't touch a shiny circle in the middle of the floor) plae-suh (sitting at the spot the big creature points to) won, tu, tree, fu-or, fiveh, sikx, seh-ven, ae-tuh, nie-un, ten (bringing over the right amount of toys) poot-ah-way-toys (put all of his toys in his toy bawx) fyn-duh (look for the thing Ha-Kyoh-nee hid somewhere). That last one was really hard because he didn't really know what Ha-kyoh-nee wanted him to bring back, so he just brought anything.

If Hyuk got fed up or wanted to stop playing (because that's the only game the shorter big creature wanted to play and it would get old) he would sit down and make unhappy, do not want noises until Ha-Kyoh-nee gave up.  
   
Other days Ha-kyoh-nee came home looking tired and they would play the fyh-ur bawl game, where he got to chase little fire balls, or they chased him. They tickled and he liked the feeling. Somedays Ha-kyoh-nee or Dah-duh would pet him with their hands on fire and that was the best. He liked ha-kyoh-nee most of the time as long as he wasn't being stubborn or grouchy or tried to carry him too much. Sanghyuk hoped he would get too big for fah-mi-lee to do that soon.  
   
The more he learned about his fah-mi-lee the easier interactions were, but it still felt like there was a barrier, an other-ness from them that he didn't like. He would give up all of his shiny bits to get rid of that barrier. The answer for it was tauntingly lurking in the corner of his mind.

Thinking of all of this made Hyuk sigh. Despite the sun Hyuk felt not warm so instead of laying spread out there he crawled over to his big bawx in the corner where is was darker. It was where he was now keeping his shiny bits and a blan-kut that smelled like fah-mi-lee. It was perfect for naps (and making shiny things not give off any shine so other creatures wouldn't take it) and if he took a nap he wouldn't think about how badly he wanted a fah-mi-lee creature to come give him attention.

. . .

Hyuk blearily roused as his outer door creaked open. "Hio-kee" A playful voice crooned soothingly. He hopped out of his dark bawx with a stretch and a yawn to encounter the fun female big creature he played with when he was at that big creature swarm. What was her name?...Gur-mah-seyo? He let out happy creaks to see her again. She babbled too quickly for him to understand, but overall the old big creature seemed happy to see him too. He happily let her scoop him up and nuzzle their faces together. He excitedly licked at her face to take in her scent. It had probably only been only a few hours since he saw another creature, but this had him overjoyed. A part of him may have been wondering if he would ever see another big creature again. 

. . .

The tuckered out dragon snoozed between Daejin's parents as he fixed them with a stern stare over face time. "I'll ask Dad because you aren't reliable when it comes to these matters. Was Hyukkie well behaved and un-destructive for you guys today and yesterday?"

His mother pouted and mumbled rude as his father snickered. "Just fine son, I wouldn't let your Mom take him home otherwise. I think these guys are having a blast. Look at this little guy, played so hard he's conked out." True to the more responsible parent's word Hyuk was snoring. 

"And he gets along with the dogs?"

"Hela and Azrael are enthusiastic babysitters. They've kept him very well entertained."

Daejin tisked. "And they call themselves hellhounds. You hear that girls? People are going to think you're just a regular pair of black great danes, you burnt marshmellows!" He called out to the canines teasingly. Not that they actually wanted anyone to think any differently. 

The only way to know they were the real deal was when they would materialize off in sinister wisps of smoke to God knows where to do their jobs and that that they had been around since he was a child. The hellhounds enjoyed the lava pit his fire elemental mom had in their basement. 'The ground is lava' was not a child's game in their house which was why that door was locked anytime they had visitors, magical or not. And it's not as if his parents had pursued obtaining these hell spawn beasts as pets. The two dogs literally just hopped out of the molten rock liquid and decided to live in their house. After consulting with a necromancer, who told them the hound's names and assured them their souls wouldn't get dragged off to some satanic fate, the dogs just settled into their family's domestic routine. Hela and Azrael were Daejin 's best friends, there for him when other humans weren't.

"Oh! Before I forget did you get those samples I'm needing?" Jongsu asked of his son. 

"Yes, Boyeon got them from Mikel and they are in my suitcase now. Are you ever going to actually retire?" He asked wryly.

"It's so-"

"NEVER!" Seo shouted off screen.

"It's something to keep us busy. Besides now days I'm just doing predictions for public safety. We aren't out collecting stones for magical properties and lecturing volcanology at universities."

Seo commandeered the phone "Enough adult talk, I want to talk to my grandkids!" Daejin rolled his eyes and handed off the phone to Boyeon and Hakyeon, the latter of which chattered excitedly about the plane ride and everything he had encountered in the handful of hours he had spent in Greece. Boyeon smiled fondly as he listened to his baby brother, happy to let him drive the conversation. A call that was only supposed to be a couple minutes of 'hey we landed ok' turned into an hour of the relatives catching up. It only stopped because age was catching up with the grandparents who were starting to nod off a bit. 

"Bed time Hyukkie. Do you want to sleep with the pups again?" Jongsu asked when the reptile roused from the couple standing and disturbing the couch cushions. He carried him to their bedroom where the snoozing dogs were already heaped on their dog bed. Hyuk looked quite at home settled in next to the 'pups'.

. . .

Moon light was shining in through the window when Hyuk woke from feeling not warm. Where were his friends? Hela and Azrael were helping him extend his vocabulary. They spoke better dragon than he did which was not fair, but they were ancient and had shared magma with more than a few dragons. Hyuk heard the clicking of dog claws in the kitchen and went to investigate. He walked in to the sight of Hela licking blood off of Azrael's coat. 

"Aah-ah! Ok?!" He squeaked in wide eyed concern. 

"It's alright little one. Just hunting mess, that's all." She responded in a husky accent that colored her dragon speak. 

"You mush it!" The dragon snickered. "What make big mess? What smell? I smell before." The two hellhounds traded glances. He was just a baby, but would he realize why it smelled familiar? He had already figured out by smell that 'Dah-duh' was a hatchling of 'gur-mah-seyo' and 'gurm-pah-jih-on-soo' as his vocabulary was able to communicate. The dogs found it endearing and the rate he was learning human words was pretty advanced for his age. And being raised by humans explained why his dragon speak was a little lacking. But he was like the hellhounds and didn't have correct vocal cords to replicate those human sounds even though they understood the languages. He found that information disappointing. They felt bad that this was the first occurrence of a full, two sided conversations for him. 

Azrael settled with a half lie. "Big creatures you've never seen before. You've probably smelled something similar though."

"I see too?" The baby asked expectantly.

"Not if I hunt them all first." She teased and nipped at him in play fight. 

"Nooo! You messy! I clean! I no want mess!" He squealed and giggled.

"Yeah, you should go take a bath down stairs because this is probably too much for me to clean up." Hela agreed. She herded them down to the basement and Azrael sprinted into the lava to burn off all of the sinner's blood and gore off of her. No one ever wanted to go to hell willingly. Their job was simply to cart off the idiots who were dumb enough to make deals with demons. Demons were assholes, that's why the hounds liked living with the humans when they weren't off fetching the wickedly stupid. 

Hyuk happily coasted after her, enjoying the magically sustained melted rock similarly to how a human enjoys soaking in a hot tub. With the way he had his wings extended it looked like he was using them like a pool floaty toy. He giggled as he doggie paddled along in a circle first around Azrael then around Hela as she joined in. They put on a fake chase and would dive down to pop back up where he wouldn't expect it. But of course he was a toddler and when he yawned they decided to herd him out of the lava. "But waaarrrmmm! I want sleep in pool!"

"No silly. Dragons can only hold their breath for two hours at a time." Hela explained fondly.

"What bout dogs?" Hyuk said, still adorable even when a bit on the petulant side. 

"We're special dogs. We're something called a spectral creature. We don't really have the same kind of needs."

"You sleep down there? If want?" Hyuk questioned with droopy eyelids. 

"Yes, but our bed is much more comfortable." Hela responded as she nudged him up the stairs so they could all snuggle onto their big extra fluffy cushion. Once settled between the two Hyuk did have to admit it was pretty comfortable.

. . .


End file.
